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sessile tickclover, sessile-leaf tick-trefoil, sessileleaf tickclover

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

Habit Herbs, perennial; base woody, rootstock thick, woody. Herbs, subshrubs, or shrubs, perennial; stoloniferous or rhizomatous.
Stems

ascending to erect, usually striate, mostly unbranched, 50–100(–150) cm, medially uncinate-puberulent and uncinate-pubescent.

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

Leaves

trifoliolate;

stipules moderately persistent, narrowly ovate, 4–9.5 mm, apex often awn-tipped;

petiole 1–5 mm;

leaflet blades narrowly elliptic to linear, apex obtuse or acute, surfaces prominently reticulate-veined abaxially, uncinate-puberulent and subappressed pubescent abaxially, glabrate or sparsely pubescent adaxially;

terminal blade (30–)40–85 × 5–15 mm, length 4–10 times width.

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.

Inflorescences

terminal and branched;

rachis terete to subangulate, densely uncinate-puberulent and sparsely pilose;

primary bracts ovate, 2.5–3 mm.

unbranched;

rachis densely patent uncinate-pubescent;

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

Pedicels

2–5 mm.

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

Flowers

calyx 2.5–3 mm, puberulent, tube 1.5 mm;

abaxial lobes ovate, 1.5 mm, lateral lobes ovate, 1 mm;

corolla pale lavender to reddish purple, 5 mm.

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.

Loments

sutures deeply crenate abaxially, sinuate adaxially;

connections adaxial, 1/3 as broad as segments;

segments (1 or)2(–4), semiorbiculate, 4.5–6 × 3–4.5 mm, symmetrically rounded abaxially, nearly straight or convex adaxially, densely uncinate-puberulent throughout;

stipe 1–3 mm.

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.

2n

= 22.

= 22.

Desmodium sessilifolium

Desmodium incanum

Phenology Flowering summer–fall. Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Open, dry upland woods, abandoned fields, roadsides. Pine-palmetto flatwoods, woodland borders, lawns, ruderal sites, disturbed or waste areas.
Elevation 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.) 0–50 m. (0–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county 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]
Discussion

Desmodium sessilifolium is considered extirpated from Ontario.

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

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.)

Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
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. 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. strictum, D. tenuifolium, D. tortuosum, D. triflorum, D. tweedyi, D. viridiflorum, D. ×humifusum
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
Synonyms Meibomia sessilifolia 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
Name authority Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 363. (1840) (Swartz) de Candolle in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle: Prodr. 2: 332. (1825) — name conserved
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