Desmodium × humifusum
Desmodium × humifusum is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names trailing tick-trefoil, eastern trailing tick-trefoil, and spreading tick-trefoil. It is native to the eastern United States, where it has been reduced to scattered populations in the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Indiana. It once had a wider distribution but it has likely been extirpated from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, West Virginia, and Missouri.[1]
| Desmodium × humifusum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Desmodium |
| Species: | D. × humifusum |
| Binomial name | |
| Desmodium × humifusum | |
This plant is prostrate, its hairy stems trailing up to 2 metres (7 ft) long. One plant may have a large number of stems. The alternately arranged leaves are each divided into 3 leaflets up to 7 centimetres (3 in) long by 5 centimetres (2 in) wide. The leaves have persistent stipules which may aid in identification. The inflorescence is a raceme of purple flowers nearly one centimeter long. Blooming occurs in July and August. The fruit is a legume pod jointed into three or four segments, with each segment up to 8 millimetres (1⁄3 in) long. The segments are dispersed on animal fur. This species is probably a hybrid of Desmodium paniculatum and D. rotundifolium.[2]
This plant grows on sandy soils that originated from sandstone and chert. The habitat is often dominated by oaks,[3] and it may be a type of dry forest.[2]
References
- Desmodium humifusum. The Nature Conservancy.
- Dolan, R. Conservation Assessment for Trailing tick-trefoil (Desmodium humifusum). USDA Forest Service, Eastern Region. September 30, 2004.
- Desmodium humifusum. Archived 2011-10-26 at the Wayback Machine Center for Plant Conservation.