Participant Info

Species

Trifolium fragiferum

Family

Fabaceae

CommonName

strawberry clover

Presence

yes

Status

exotic

EarliestDate

2003

LatestDate

2021

Ecosystem

basin, ruderal, urban

Geobotanical

UBasin, LBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

Alamosa (town)

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Conejos Co, in floodplain of the Rio Grande, below bridge on Hwy 142, west side of the river 7/28/2021

Comments

There are only two records of Trifolium fragiferum from the Watershed: in the lawn of the Walmart store in Alamosa (2003), and in the floodplain of the Rio Grande where Hwy 142 crosses it east of Manassa (2021). The second observation would add Conejos to counties shown for strawberry clover in Ackerfield (2022). This exotic clover, first recorded from Colorado in 1935, is sometimes cultivated—but not in the Valley. When escaped, it readily naturalizes. The USA distribution is suggested by scattered reports from most states west of the Mississippi, and even more scattered locations elsewhere. The presence of the species in the Rio Grande drainage is confined to the two reports from the Watershed; in 1995 it was seeded in Socorro Co, New Mexico, but did not persist, according to Allred et al. (2020).

Annotation