Desmodium

Plant Characteristics

Origin:	✈	?

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water:	◍	?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.

Scientific Names

Read about Desmodium in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Desmodium (Greek, a band or chain; referring to the jointed pods). By some called Meibomia. Legumi- nosae. Tick Trefoil. Mostly herbs, upwards of 170 species, in temperate and warm regions of Amer., Asia, Afr. and Austral. Lvs. pinnate, with 3-5 (rarely 1) lfts.: fls. small and papilionaceous, in terminal or axillary racemes in summer, mostly purple; calyx with a short tube, more or less 2- lipped; standard broad; wings joined to the keel: pod flat, deeply lobed or jointed, the joints often breaking apart and adhering to clothing and to animals by means of small hooked hairs. Fig. 1244. A number of species are native to N. Amer., and are sometimes grown in the hardy border, where they thrive under ordinary conditions. One hothouse species, D. gyrans, is sometimes cult. for its odd moving lfts. D. penduliflorum and D. japonicum will be found under Lespedeza. Several of the native species are worthy of cult., but are practically unknown in the trade. The following have been offered by collectors: D. canadense, DC. (Fig. 1244); D. cuspidatum, Hook.; D. Dillenii, Darl.; D. marilandicum, Boott; D. nudiflorum, DC.; D. paniculatum, DC.; D. pauciflorum, DC.; D. sessilifolium, Torr. & Gray. The Florida beggarweed is Desmodium tortuosum, DC., of the W. Indies. It is coming into prominence in the S. as a forage plant (see Cyclo. Amer. Agric., Vol. II, p. 214). Two Chinese shrubby species have recently been intro. to Eu.: D, amethystinum, Dunn, growing 3—5 ft.: lvs. 3-foliolate, the lfts. elliptic. 4-7 in. long: fls. amethystine, ½ in. long, in a terminal panicle. D. cinerascens, Franch., not Gray: broad bush, 3 ft. high, densely leafy: lvs. large, the lfts. lozenge-shaped: fls. rosy lilac to violet, in many racemes, produced in June and again in Sept. The greenhouse species, D. gyrans, is of tolerably easy culture. It requires stove temperature, and, although a perennial, it is best treated as an annual. The best method of propagation is by seeds. These should be sown in February in a light, sandy soil, in 4-inch pots, and placed in a warm, close atmosphere, where they will soon germinate. The seedlings should be potted singly into small pots as soon as large enough to handle and grown on as rapidly as possible, using a mixture of good, fibrous loam and leaf soil in about equal proportions. By midsummer they will be good bushy plants, and, though not showy, they are very interesting. (Edward J. Canning.) CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

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• Desmodium QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)