OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Desmodium laevigatum   FAMILY Fabaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Desmodium laevigatum   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)

Desmodium laevigatum

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-26-017:

Desmodium laevigatum   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Meibomia laevigata

 

COMMON NAME:
Smooth Tick-trefoil


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_mela8_001_lvd

        

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm140724_086

July    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm140724_088

July    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Terminal leaflets ovate to elliptic-ovate or elliptic-oblong, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm140724_091

July    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Stems and leaves glabrous, per Weakley's Flora (2012).

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm140804_357

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Leaflets distinctly pale on the lower surface, per Weakley's Flora (2012).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE Beggar's Lice (Tick-trefoil) species

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm140804_359

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm140822_964b

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

The two fused petals of the keel enfold ten stamens and a pistil, per Book of Field and Roadside (Eastman, 2003).

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm140822_964c

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

An insect's probing will snap down the keel, jerking the stamens loose, per Book of Field and Roadside (Eastman, 2003).

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm140822_964d

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Petals 8-10mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm140822_964e

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Calyx densely puberulent & 2-lipped, upper lip scarcely bifid, lower 3-dentate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm220806_9504

August    Henderson County    NC

DuPont State Forest

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm140909_622

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Loment of 2-5 subrhombic segments, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm180918_4795

September    Greenville County    SC

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm180918_4797

September    Greenville County    SC

Loment's upper sutures straight or slightly convex, lower abruptly angled, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE loments of Desmodium species

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm190903_1177

September    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm190903_1178

September    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm190903_1180

September    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm190903_1182

September    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm230922_5562

September    Greenville County    SC

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm151006_341

October    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Desmodium laevigatum, Smooth Tick-trefoil

JK Marlow    jkm151006_342

October    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Desmodium laevigatum   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Desmodium laevigatum   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Desmodium laevigatum

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-26-017:
Desmodium laevigatum   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Meibomia laevigata

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

447

Forb
Perennial

Habitat: Dry oak and pine forests, fields, woodland borders, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common (uncommon in GA Coastal Plain)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

LEAVES:
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Alternate

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rose-purplish
Bilaterally symmetrical
2-lipped calyx
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
10 stamens, diadelphous, 9 and 1
Superior ovary

Flowers in terminal panicles

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Loment with 3-5 angular segments

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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