Desmodium canescens |
Desmodium grahamii |
|
---|---|---|
hoary tick-trefoil, hoary tickclover |
Graham's tick trefoil |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial. | Herbs, perennial, sometimes mat-forming; rhizomatous. |
Stems | erect or ascending, branched, 50–200 cm, conspicuously or sparsely villous and uncinate-pubescent. |
prostrate, decumbent, or trailing, branched from base, 25–70 cm, uncinate-puberulent to -pubescent. |
Leaves | trifoliolate; stipules mostly persistent, usually reflexed, broadly or narrowly ovate, 5–13 mm, base oblique, often auriculate, subamplexicaul; petiole 30–60 mm; leaflet blades ovate, thick, papery, apex acute to gradually acuminate, surfaces densely uncinate-puberulent abaxially, uncinate-puberulent and pubescent on veins adaxially; terminal blade 50–130 × 30–100 mm, length 1.5–2 times width. |
usually trifoliolate, rarely unifoliolate proximally; stipules persistent, reflexed, narrowly deltate, 3–5.5 mm; petiole 12–20 mm; leaflet blades pale green abaxially, broadly ovate to suborbiculate, apex obtuse, surfaces clearly reticulate-veined abaxially, prominently reticulate-veined adaxially, loosely strigulose or glabrescent abaxially, appressed, bulbous-pilose adaxially; terminal blade 20–45 × 15–25 mm, length 1.2–1.7 times width. |
Inflorescences | paniclelike, branched; rachis densely patent bulbous-villous and uncinate-puberulent; primary bracts caducous, narrowly ovate, 4–6 mm. |
terminal and unbranched; rachis densely patent uncinate-pubescent and often bulbous-pilose; primary bracts ovate, 4.5–6.5 mm. |
Pedicels | persistent, 8–13 mm. |
10–15 mm. |
Flowers | calyx 3–5 mm, sparsely or densely puberulent, tube 1 mm; abaxial lobes to 3 mm, lateral lobes 1 mm; corolla usually purple to pinkish, rarely white, 9–13 mm. |
calyx 5–6 mm, pubescent, tube 1 mm; abaxial lobes 4–5 mm, lateral lobes 3–4 mm; corolla pink, lilac to purple, or greenish white, 7–8 mm. |
Loments | sutures dentate or crenate abaxially, sinuate adaxially; connections adaxial, 1/3–1/2 as broad as segments; segments 4–6, broadly elliptic, 6.5–13 × 4–7 mm, obtusely angled abaxially becoming round, convex adaxially, uncinate-puberulent and villous, hairs particularly dense on sutures and between segments; stipe 2.5–6 mm. |
sutures crenate abaxially, strongly crenate adaxially; connections adaxial, 1/3 as broad as segments; segments (2 or)3–6, elliptic to suborbiculate, 4.5–8 × 3–5 mm, symmetrically rounded abaxially, convex adaxially, densely uncinate-pubescent throughout; stipe 3–3.5 mm. |
2n | = 22. |
= 22. |
Desmodium canescens |
Desmodium grahamii |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering late summer–fall. |
Habitat | Open, dry woodlands, cutover areas, thickets, roadsides. | Pine, juniper, oak woodlands, grasslands, canyons, sandy alluvia along streams, moist areas, roadsides. |
Elevation | 0–900 m. (0–3000 ft.) | 1600–2400 m. (5200–7900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV; ON
|
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, México, Puebla, Sonora, Tamaulipas)
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Discussion | In Texas, Desmodium canescens is known from the eastern third of the state. In Florida, it occurs only in the panhandle region. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
In the flora area, Desmodium grahamii is known from the trans-Pecos region of Texas; it is also found in the southern half of Arizona, and southwestern New Mexico. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Hedysarum canescens, Meibomia canescens | Meibomia grahamii |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Poiret in F. Cuvier: Dict. Sci. Nat. ed. 2, 13: 110. (1819) | A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 5(6): 48. (1853) — (as grahami) |
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