Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Desmodium rotundifolium
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
This is possibly the easiest Desmodium to identify in NC. It has a trailing stem, with dense hairs covering the stem. Each leaflet averages is rotund, about the size of a silver dollar, and is densely hairy on both sides. Learn more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Desmodium rotundifolium
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Desmodium rotundifolium
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-26-004:
Desmodium rotundifolium FAMILY Fabaceae
(?) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Meibomia michauxii
COMMON NAME:
Roundleaf Tick-trefoil, Dollarleaf, Prostrate Tick-trefoil, Sessileleaf Tick-trefoil
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_memi5_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm200422_4037
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm060506_034
May Oconee County SC
Clemson Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm210516_0344
May Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
Roxanna Martin rlm51509_015
May Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow s080524_b
May Pickens County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm120623_240
June Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
A prostrate plant with stems to 5' long, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm120623_245
June Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
Unique in that its leaflets are nearly round, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm120623_249
June Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
Erect, sparsely flowered racemes arise from the trailing stem, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow s050625_b
June Union County SC
Leaflets 1-4cm long & wide. Stipules persistent, ovate, & clasping the stem, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
COMPARE
Beggar's Lice (Tick-trefoil) species
)
JK Marlow jkm120704_571
July Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
The infrequently formed fruits have a narrow or somewhat broadened isthmi, per Native and Naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the United States (Isely, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm120704_573
July Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
Loment of (3-)4-6 segments, both margins about equally indented, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
loments of Desmodium species
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_d_rotundifolium_18
July
)
Roxanna Martin rlm82810_358
August Spartanburg County SC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_d_rotundifolium_7
August
)
JK Marlow jkm220926_0005
September Spartanburg County SC
)
Roxanna Martin rlm9210_70
September Spartanburg County SC
Calyx sparsely pilose to puberulent, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Desmodium rotundifolium
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Desmodium rotundifolium
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Desmodium rotundifolium
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-26-004:
Desmodium rotundifolium
FAMILY
Fabaceae
(?)
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Meibomia michauxii
452
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Dry forests and woodlands, 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.
LEAVES:
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer
Rose-purplish
Bilaterally symmetrical
2-lipped calyx
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
10 stamens, diadelphous, 9 and 1
Superior ovary
Flowers in axillary racemes
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Loment with (3-)4-6 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) p054
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p110
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p119
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p335
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p192
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p133
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p170
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p081
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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