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creeping beggarweed, Spanish clover, Spanish tick-trefoil, zarzabacoa comun

San Pedro tick trefoil

Habit Herbs, subshrubs, or shrubs, perennial; stoloniferous or rhizomatous. Herbs, perennial.
Stems

erect or ascending, to 300 cm, pubescent or glabrescent.

decumbent or decumbent-assurgent, branched, 30–120 cm, densely uncinate-pubescent.

Leaves

trifoliolate;

stipules usually persistent, narrowly ovate-deltate, 5–10 mm;

petiole usually 15–20 mm;

leaflet blades elliptic to ovate, apex obtuse or acute, surfaces finely spreading-villosulous to substrigose abaxially, uncinate-puberulent or glabrescent adaxially;

terminal blade 20–90 × 15–45 mm, length 1.5–4 times width.

tri-foliolate;

stipules caducous, narrowly ovate, 5+ mm;

petiole 20–30 mm;

leaflet blades ovate-elliptic to narrowly so, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces densely appressed-pubescent abaxially, sparsely so adaxially;

terminal blade (20–)35–60 × 8–10(–15) mm, length 2.5–4 times width.

Inflorescences

unbranched;

rachis densely patent uncinate-pubescent;

primary bracts caducous, narrowly ovate, 6–7 mm.

axillary and terminal, branched or unbranched;

rachis patent uncinate-puberulent to pubescent;

primary bracts closely imbricate before anthesis, caducous, ovate, 5 mm.

Pedicels

persistent with calyx-remnant at top after loments drop, 5–9 mm.

5–10 mm.

Flowers

calyx 2–3.5 mm, uncinate-puberulent, lobes pilose, tube 1 mm;

abaxial lobes 1.5–2.5 mm, lateral lobes 1–2 mm;

corolla purple, 5–8 mm.

calyx 3–4 mm, sparsely pubescent, tube 1 mm;

abaxial lobes 3 mm, lateral lobes 2 mm;

corolla pink or purple to blue, 7–9 mm.

Loments

sutures symmetrically crenate abaxially, straight or slightly sinuate adaxially;

connections central, 1/2–2/3 as broad as segments;

segments 4–8, semiobovate, 3.5–5 × 2.5–3 mm, broadly rounded abaxially, straight or barely convex adaxially, uncinate-puberulent;

stipe 1.5–2 mm.

sutures undulate abaxially, sinuate adaxially;

connections adaxial, 1/4–1/3 as broad as segments;

segments 4–7, semiorbiculate, 3–5 × 3–3.5 mm, rounded abaxially, slightly convex adaxially, glabrous or sparsely uncinate-puberulent throughout;

stipe 1–2 mm.

2n

= 22.

Desmodium incanum

Desmodium batocaulon

Phenology Flowering spring–fall. Flowering late summer–fall.
Habitat Pine-palmetto flatwoods, woodland borders, lawns, ruderal sites, disturbed or waste areas. Dry, rocky woodlands, pine or oak-juniper woodlands, canyons, roadsides.
Elevation 0–50 m. [0–160 ft.] 1200–2100 m. [3900–6900 ft.]
Distribution
map from FNA
AL; FL; GA; TX; Central America; South America; Mexico (Chiapas, Jalisco, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Tamaulipas, Veracruz); West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Asia (Taiwan), Africa, Indian Ocean Islands (Mauritius, Reunion), Pacific Islands, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
map from FNA
AZ; NM; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Desmodium incanum may be distinguished by its long-persistent stipules usually fused and nearly surrounding the stem, at least when young, and by its pedicels which are usually borne singly and are each subtended by one primary bract and two (lateral) secondary bracts (B. G. Schubert 1980).

Desmodium incanum was long known as D. canum Schinz & Thellung (= Meibomia cana S. F. Blake) based on the illegitimate Hedysarum canum J. F. Gmelin, a superfluous name for H. racemosum Aublet. The complex nomenclatural history was elaborated by D. H. Nicolson (1978) and L. C. P. Lima et al. (2012, 2014). Hedysarum canescens Miller (1768) is a later homonym of H. canescens Linnaeus (1753), thus illegitimate, and pertains here. Hedysarum canum J. F. Gmelin is a superfluous name for H. racemosum Aublet; Meibomia cana S. F. Blake was intended as a new combination based on that name.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

In the flora area, Desmodium batocaulon is known from southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Desmodium Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Desmodium
Sibling taxa
D. arizonicum, D. batocaulon, D. canadense, D. canescens, D. cinerascens, D. cuspidatum, D. floridanum, D. grahamii, D. gramineum, D. illinoense, 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
D. arizonicum, D. canadense, D. canescens, D. cinerascens, 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 Hedysarum incanum, Aeschynomene incana, D. ancistrocarpum, D. canum, D. frutescens, D. frutescens var. amplyophyllum, D. malacophyllum, D. mauritianum, D. supinum var. amblyophyllum, H. ancistrocarpum, H. malacophyllum, H. mauritianum, H. racemosum, Meibomia adscendens var. incana, M. incana, M. malacophylla, M. supina Meibomia batocaulos
Name authority (Swartz) de Candolle in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle: Prodr. 2: 332. (1825) — name conserved A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 5(6): 47. (1853)
Source FNA vol. 11. Treatment author: Hiroyoshi Ohashi. FNA vol. 11. Treatment author: Hiroyoshi Ohashi.
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