This species lives almost exclusively in sand dunes and sea cliffs on the Atlantic coast of Europe, especially Cornwall and the Channel Islands.

[1] Trifolium occidentale is a "self-compatible, diploid, stoloniferous" perennial herb,[2][3] found only within 100 metres of the coast, in western Europe.

[5] Its range extends from the east coast of Ireland and the southern British Isles such as Cornwall, the Channel Islands and Isle of Scilly in particular, to the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, although much less common.

In France, it is found on the shores of the Armorican Massif and Normandy and Brittany.

It closely resembles the white clover but appears earlier in the season and is more compact, and the leaves are more opaque, often a blue-green.