Wildflower (forb) · Scrophulariaceae
Yellow owl's-clover
Orthocarpus luteus
Yellow owl's-clover is recorded as native to 15 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 227 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Yellow owl's-clover at a glance
- Native in
- 227 counties, across 15 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12b PLANTS minimum temperature 52°F
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 12b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 52°F; zone 12b winters bottom out at 55°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Yellow owl's-clover is recorded as native to 15 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 227 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 227 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arizona 5 counties
- California 10 counties
- Colorado 33 counties
- Idaho 18 counties
- Minnesota 7 counties
- Montana 22 counties
- Nebraska 5 counties
- Nevada 7 counties
- New Mexico 14 counties
- North Dakota 39 counties
- Oregon 10 counties
- South Dakota 13 counties
- Utah 19 counties
- Washington 5 counties
- Wyoming 20 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Annual
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 10 to 24 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 6 to 8.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 52°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 130
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Early Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Scrophulariaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ORLU2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Orthocarpus luteus (PLANTS symbol ORLU2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources