''Desmodium'' × ''humifusum'' is a species of flowering plant in the
known by the common names trailing tick-trefoil, eastern trailing tick-trefoil, and spreading tick-trefoil. It is native to the eastern United States, where it has been reduced to scattered populations in the states of
Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and
Indiana. It once had a wider distribution but it has likely been
extirpated from
Delaware,
Maryland,
New Jersey,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
,
Rhode Island,
Virginia,
West Virginia, and
Missouri.
[''Desmodium humifusum''.]
The Nature Conservancy.
This plant is prostrate, its hairy stems trailing up to long. One plant may have a large number of stems. The alternately arranged leaves are each divided into 3 leaflets up to long by wide. The leaves have persistent
stipules which may aid in identification. The
inflorescence is a
raceme
A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...
of purple flowers nearly one centimeter long. Blooming occurs in July and August. The fruit is a
legume
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...
pod jointed into three or four segments, with each segment up to long. The segments are
dispersed on animal fur. This species is probably a
hybrid of ''
Desmodium paniculatum
''Desmodium paniculatum'', the panicled-leaf ticktrefoil, narrow-leaf tick-trefoil or panicled tickclover, is a perennial herb in the pea family, Fabaceae. Belonging to a nearly cosmopolitan genus, the panicled-leaf ticktrefoil is a common nativ ...
'' and ''
D. rotundifolium''.
[Dolan, R]
Conservation Assessment for Trailing tick-trefoil (''Desmodium humifusum'').
USDA Forest Service, Eastern Region. September 30, 2004.
This plant grows on sandy soils that originated from
sandstone and
chert. The habitat is often
dominated by
oaks,
[''Desmodium humifusum''.]
Center for Plant Conservation. and it may be a type of dry forest.
[
]
References
External links
USDA Plants Profile
humifusum
Flora of the Eastern United States
Plants described in 1824
Taxa named by Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg
Plant nothospecies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desmodium x humifusum