Flora of North America species comparison

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Desmodium cinerascens

spike ticktrefoil
Habit Herbs, perennial; base woody.
Stems

ascending to erect or sprawling, usually striate, branched, 60–150 cm, sparsely to densely appressed-pilose and sparsely uncinate-pubescent.
Leaves

trifoliolate;

stipules caducous, narrowly ovate-deltate, 3–4 mm;

petioles 20–40 mm proximally, 8–20 mm distally;

leaflet blades narrowly elliptic-oblong, apex obtuse, lateral veins prominent, reaching margin, margin flat, surfaces subappressed-villous abaxially, glabrescent adaxially;

terminal blade 25–70 × 15–25 mm, length 2–3 times width.
Inflorescences

branched or unbranched and elongate when terminal, or unbranched from distal axils;

rachis closely appressed-pubescent and patent uncinate-puberulent;

primary bracts caducous, narrowly ovate, 3–5 mm.
Pedicels

8–10 mm.
Flowers

calyx 4 mm, densely uncinate-puberulent, tube 2 mm;

abaxial lobes 2 mm, lateral lobes 1 mm;

corolla purple, 8–11 mm.
Loments

sutures crenate;

connections central, 1/3 as broad as segments;

segments 3–8, semiorbiculate, 5–7 × 4–5 mm, rounded abaxially, convex adaxially, villosulous or pubescent and uncinate-puberulent throughout;

stipe 2–5 mm.

Desmodium cinerascens
Phenology Flowering late summer–fall.
Habitat Open, dry slopes, with oak or pine, canyons, washes, roadsides.
Elevation 1200–1800 m. (3900–5900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango, Nayarit, Sinaloa, Sonora)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Desmodium cinerascens is known in the flora area from the south-central and southeastern areas of Arizona.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Desmodium
Sibling taxa
D. arizonicum, D. batocaulon, D. canadense, D. canescens, D. cuspidatum, D. floridanum, D. grahamii, D. gramineum, D. illinoense, D. incanum, D. intortum, D. laevigatum, D. lindheimeri, D. lineatum, D. marilandicum, D. metcalfei, D. nuttallii, D. ochroleucum, D. paniculatum, D. procumbens, D. psilocarpum, D. psilophyllum, D. retinens, D. rosei, D. rotundifolium, D. scopulorum, D. scorpiurus, D. sessilifolium, D. strictum, D. tenuifolium, D. tortuosum, D. triflorum, D. tweedyi, D. viridiflorum, D. ×humifusum
Synonyms Meibomia cinerascens
Name authority A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 5(6): 48. (1853)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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