Some rabbits have many feet

... or so it seems. Here's a rabbit's foot clover as proof.

Rabbit's foot clover, Trifolium arvense, aka hare's foot clover, stone clover, or oldfield clover.

The hairy heads supposedly look like rabbits' feet. It is a annual or biennial plant, native to Europe, and introduced here. It likes dry ground,

... typically found at the edge of fields, in wastelands, at the side of roads, on sand dunes, and opportunistically in vineyards and orchards when they are not irrigated. (Wikipedia)

Here, it is growing beside the sandy trails in the dry meadow just inland from the dunes at Oyster Bay Shoreline Park. There were many two years ago, few last year, and this year they're back in force.

Another couple of plants, with wild strawberry leaves and runners. And a critter with long antennae.

They are so pale, and so fuzzy, that in the noonday light, they almost disappear, seeming to be a pink haze over the ground, until you get down to their level. In this meadow, that's at ankle height.

So soft!

The path through the protected area at Oyster Bay Shoreline Park is lined at this time of year with pale, pinkish, fuzzy balls, about the size of beans, held ankle height on stiff stems. Down on my knees, they looked like a clover, but no clover I'd ever seen before.

Mini cotton candy flowers

Yes, definitely a clover.

It isn't in my Plants of Coastal BC, but an image search on Google found it quickly. It's commonly named hare's foot clover or rabbit foot clover, obvious choices for names because of it's soft hairiness. Or stone clover, which seems a misnomer.

It's scientific name is Trifolium arvense, which means "three leaves in the field". It's an introduced plant from Europe, but has spread throughout the world. it likes dry, sandy soil like the Oyster Bay dunes.

Growing, in this field, in close company with wild strawberry. A bit confusing. The leaves of the hare's foot clover are small and narrow.

Wild strawberry, without the clover.

There will be no post tomorrow, I hope: weather permitting, I'll be going to Tahsis for a couple of days. I'll be back with more Oyster Bay plants Thursday. (And another couple hundred photos to sort, I'm sure. I'll never catch up!)