OPERATION CLOVER RESCUE. Presumed extinct more than a dozen years ago, one of California's largest and most showy native clovers has been rescued and propagated by UC Davis researchers. Three years ago, Peter Connors (left) and John Maron, colleagues at UC Davis Bodega Marine Reserve and Laboratory, discovered a solitary clover on the edge of a recently bulldozed track in Sonoma County. With cooperation from the landowner and the careful attention of Connors and Maron, the white-tipped purple flower survived its close encounter with progress and produced 92 seeds. Half were deposited in a national seed bank, and Connors has raised two generations of Showy Indian Clover with some of the other seeds. Connors' efforts to save this species have led him to suspect that other native species in California's rich native grasslands may be in similar danger due to grazing, competition with nonnative species and other habitat changes.