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Santa Cruz Island ticktrefoil

Habit Herbs or shrubs, perennial.
Stems

erect or ascending, branched, 40–100 cm, slightly uncinate-pubescent and pilose or glabrescent.

Leaves

trifoliolate;

stipules mostly persistent, broadly ovate, 4–10 mm, base subamplexicaul;

petiole 30–40 mm;

leaflet blades broadly ovate-elliptic or ovate to narrowly ovate, apex acute, surfaces uncinate-puberulent;

terminal blade 20–70(–100) × 10–20(–50) mm, length 1.8–2 times width.

Inflorescences

branched or unbranched;

rachis bulbous-villous and uncinate-puberulent;

primary bracts caducous, subulate, 1 mm.

Pedicels

10–20 mm, patent uncinate-pubescent.

Flowers

calyx 1.5–2 mm, pilose and uncinate-puberulent, tube 0.8 mm;

abaxial lobes 1 mm, lateral lobes 0.8–1 mm;

corolla pink-purple, fading greenish, 4–5 mm.

Loments

sutures subequally deeply crenate;

connections central, 1/8–1/7 as broad as segments;

segments 3–6, rounded, 6–10 × 5–7 mm, rounded, sparsely pubescent, at least on sutures;

stipe 1(–2) mm.

Desmodium psilocarpum

Phenology Flowering late summer–fall.
Habitat Woodland, grasslands, canyon slopes, streamsides.
Elevation 1000–2000 m. (3300–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; Mexico (Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Desmodium psilocarpum is known in the flora area from southern Arizona and adjacent 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
D. arizonicum, D. batocaulon, 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. 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 psilocarpa
Name authority A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 5(6): 48. (1853)
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