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
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Smooth Tick-trefoil from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
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.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_mela8_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm140724_086
July Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
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).
)
JK Marlow jkm140724_091
July Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Stems and leaves glabrous, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
)
JK Marlow jkm140804_357
August Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Leaflets distinctly pale on the lower surface, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
COMPARE
Beggar's Lice (Tick-trefoil) species
)
JK Marlow jkm140804_359
August Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
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).
)
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).
)
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).
)
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).
)
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).
)
JK Marlow jkm180918_4795
September Greenville County SC
)
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).
COMPARE
loments of Desmodium species
)
JK Marlow jkm190903_1177
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm190903_1178
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm190903_1180
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm190903_1182
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm151006_341
October Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
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
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)
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!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p052
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p334
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p192
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p082
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p076