Desmodium grahamii |
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Graham's tick trefoil |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, sometimes mat-forming; rhizomatous. |
Stems | prostrate, decumbent, or trailing, branched from base, 25–70 cm, uncinate-puberulent to -pubescent. |
Leaves | 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 | terminal and unbranched; rachis densely patent uncinate-pubescent and often bulbous-pilose; primary bracts ovate, 4.5–6.5 mm. |
Pedicels | 10–15 mm. |
Flowers | 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 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. |
Desmodium grahamii |
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Phenology | Flowering late summer–fall. |
Habitat | Pine, juniper, oak woodlands, grasslands, canyons, sandy alluvia along streams, moist areas, roadsides. |
Elevation | 1600–2400 m. (5200–7900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, México, Puebla, Sonora, Tamaulipas)
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Discussion | 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. |
Parent taxa | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Desmodium |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Meibomia grahamii |
Name authority | A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 5(6): 48. (1853) — (as grahami) |
Web links |