Desmodium lindheimeri |
Desmodium tortuosum |
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Lindheimer's ticktrefoil |
Dixie tick trefoil |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial. | Herbs, perennial. |
Stems | erect, branched, angled and grooved, 40–60 cm, uncinate-puberulent and -pubescent, also sparsely pilose. |
erect, 50–200 cm, medially uncinate-pubescent and patent-villous. |
Leaves | trifoliolate; stipules ± persistent, reflexed, broadly or obliquely ovate, 7–8 mm, base subamplexicaul; petiole 10–50 mm; leaflet blades usually ovate, rhombic to broadly ovate, or semiorbiculate, rarely narrowly ovate, base truncate or broadly obtuse, apex acute, surfaces densely villosulous abaxially, uncinate-puberulent and pilose adaxially; terminal blade 50–100 × 40–75 mm, length usually less than 2 times width. |
trifoliolate; stipules persistent, often patent or reflexed, obliquely ovate and apex acuminate or narrowly ovate and apex aristate, 3–12.5 mm, base amplexicaul; petiole 8–50 mm; leaflet blades narrowly ovate to ovate, elliptic, or rhombic, apex obtuse or acute, surfaces obscurely prominently reticulate-veined abaxially, uncinate-puberulent and strigose or subappressed-villous; terminal blade (20–)40–150 × 10–50 mm, length 2–3 times width. |
Inflorescences | usually unbranched; rachis densely patent uncinate-pubescent; primary bracts broadly ovate, 4.5–7 mm. |
branched or unbranched; rachis villous (often with bulbous hairs) and uncinate-puberulent, or only uncinate-puberulent; primary bracts caducous, narrowly ovate, 4 mm. |
Pedicels | 5 mm. |
10–15 mm. |
Flowers | calyx 2–2.5 mm, uncinate-puberulent, tube 1 mm; abaxial lobes 1–1.5 mm, lateral lobes 0.7 mm; corolla blue-green, 6–7 mm. |
calyx 1.5–3 mm, uncinate-puberulent, tube to 1 mm; abaxial lobes 2 mm, lateral lobes 1 mm; corolla lavender, 4–6 mm. |
Loments | margins ± involute and contorted, sutures deeply crenate abaxially, shallowly dentate adaxially; connections central, 1/5 as broad as segments; segments (1–)3–5, subrhombic to semiovate, 7–15 × 5–8 mm, rounded abaxially, obtusely angled adaxially, glabrous, sutures densely uncinate-pubescent; stipe 2–3.5 mm. |
margins alternately involute and revolute, sutures equally crenate, twisted conspicuously when young; connections central, 1/4 as broad as segments; segments (3 or)4–7, orbiculate, broadly elliptic, or rhombic, 3–4.5 × 3–3.5 mm, rounded abaxially and adaxially, densely uncinate-pubescent; stipe 0.5–1 mm. |
2n | = 22. |
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Desmodium lindheimeri |
Desmodium tortuosum |
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Phenology | Flowering summer–fall. | Flowering summer–fall (year-round). |
Habitat | Rocky ravines, oak-juniper woodlands. | Open, disturbed sites, ruderal areas, pinelands, savannas. |
Elevation | 200–300 m. (700–1000 ft.) | 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) |
Distribution |
TX; Mexico (Chiapas, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas) |
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; Central America; South America; Mexico (Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Sinaloa, Sonora); West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Asia, Africa, Indian Ocean Islands, Pacific Islands, Australia]
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Discussion | Desmodium lindheimeri resembles D. canescens and its relatives, especially D. ochroleucum, in having relatively large loments. It is common in its narrow range in the Edwards Plateau (Comal County) and is widespread in Mexico (M. Enquist 1995). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Desmodium tortuosum is most easily distinguished from its relatives by the thick leaflets with prominent reticulate venation, the large persistent stipules, and the long, stiff, ascending to spreading pedicels (B. G. Schubert 1980). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Meibomia lindheimeri | Hedysarum tortuosum, Meibomia purpurea, M. tortuosa |
Name authority | Vail: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 18: 120. (1891) | (Swartz) de Candolle in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle: Prodr. 2: 332. (1825) |
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