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creeping tick trefoil, matty desmodium, three-flower beggarweed, threeflower ticktrefoil, tropical trefoil

Habit Herbs, annual or perennial, often mat-forming; stoloniferous.
Stems

prostrate, densely branched, 20–80 cm, ascending-pilose or strigose.

Leaves

trifoliolate;

stipules persistent, narrowly ovate, 3–5 mm;

petiole 3–7.5 mm;

leaflet blades broadly obovate or cuneate-obovate, often folding downwards, apex emarginate, surfaces usually sparsely uncinate-puberulent or subappressed-pilose along midrib abaxially, rarely entire surface, glabrous adaxially;

terminal blade 5–10 × 3–11 mm, length 0.8–1.2 times width.

Inflorescences

terminal fascicles opposite distal leaf, appearing axillary, unbranched;

rachis pubescent;

primary bracts narrowly ovate, 4 mm.

Pedicels

8–12 mm.

Flowers

calyx 2.5–3 mm, appressed-pubescent, tube 1.2 mm;

abaxial lobes 1.5–1.7 mm, lateral lobes 1.5–1.7 mm, adaxial lobes deeply 2-toothed;

corolla pale pink to purplish, 4–5 mm, keel distinctly longer than wings.

Loments

sutures weakly crenate abaxially, with broad connection between segments, barely sinuate adaxially;

connections 2/3–4/5 as broad as segments;

segments 3–5, nearly square, 2.5–3.5 × 2.5–3 mm, symmetrically convex abaxially, slightly concave adaxially, inconspicuously uncinate-pubescent or glabrescent;

stipe 0 mm.

2n

= 22.

Desmodium triflorum

Phenology Flowering year-round.
Habitat Ruderal areas, lawns, disturbed open woodlands.
Elevation 0–50 m. (0–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; LA; Central America; South America; Mexico (Jalisco, Sinaloa); West Indies; Asia; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Indian Ocean Islands, Pacific Islands, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Inflorescences of Desmodium triflorum are produced opposite the leaf at the distal end of stem and are usually described as axillary. The branching system of D. triflorum is a monopodial sympodium and the inflorescences are terminal (H. Ohashi and T. Nemoto 1986). Evolution of inflorescences in Desmodium is inferred from comparative morphology and anatomy with Campylotropis, Kummerowia, and Lespedeza (Nemoto and Ohashi 1990, 1993, 1996).

Based on molecular and morphological data, H. Ohashi and K. Ohashi (2018) transferred Desmodium triflorum and the other species formerly in Desmodium sects. Nicolsonia (de Candolle) Bentham and Sagotia (Duchassaing & Walpers) Bentham to the genus Grona Loureiro.

(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. psilocarpum, D. psilophyllum, D. retinens, D. rosei, D. rotundifolium, D. scopulorum, D. scorpiurus, D. sessilifolium, D. strictum, D. tenuifolium, D. tortuosum, D. tweedyi, D. viridiflorum, D. ×humifusum
Synonyms Hedysarum triflorum, Grona triflora, Meibomia triflora, Sagotia triflora
Name authority (Linnaeus) de Candolle in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle: Prodr. 2: 334. (1825)
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