Desmodium paniculatum (L.) DC.
Panicled tick-trefoil, narrow-leaf tick-trefoil, panicled tickclover
This perennial wildflower is a native of China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, now naturalized in North America.
Plants: Up to 3½′ (1 m) tall.
Leaves: lanceolate to elliptic to oblong, alternate, and usually 2 to 10 times as long as wide. Leaves are compound, pinnately-trifoliate—comprised of three leaflets. Each leaflet can be as much as 3½ ⨉ ¾″ (8.9 ⨉ 1.9 cm), though they are typically smaller. Leaf edges are entire. Upper left surfaces are medium green, while undersides are a lighter color due to presence of tiny whitish hairs.
Flowers: Upper stems are topped with either racemes or narrow panicles of bright pink to lavender flowers. They appear from June through as late as November. Each flower is on a stem (petiole) ½″ (1.3 cm) long. It is about ½″ (1.3 cm) in size, comprised of an upper pink petal called the banner, with two tiny yellow spots at its base; and four small lower petals.
Fruits: Seed pods, called loments, have tiny sticky hairs that adhere to passing animals. They are up to 1½″ (3.8 cm) long.
Habitats: Thinly wooded bluffs, rocky or sandy open woodlands, savannas, woodland edges, thickets, rocky glades, and partially shaded roadside embankments. It is more common in soils disturbed by logging or fire.
Online References:
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Some similar species. |
8/12/2023 · Highlands Trail via Pismire Bluffs Trail, Raymond Community Forest, Raymond, Maine · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm) 
8/29/2016 · Massachusetts 
8/29/2016 · Massachusetts 
8/12/2023 · Highlands Trail via Pismire Bluffs Trail, Raymond Community Forest, Raymond, Maine · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) 
8/12/2023 · Highlands Trail via Pismire Bluffs Trail, Raymond Community Forest, Raymond, Maine · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm) 
8/12/2023 · Highlands Trail via Pismire Bluffs Trail, Raymond Community Forest, Raymond, Maine · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm) 
8/12/2023 · Highlands Trail via Pismire Bluffs Trail, Raymond Community Forest, Raymond, Maine · ≈ 10 × 6″ (24 × 16 cm) 
8/12/2023 · Highlands Trail via Pismire Bluffs Trail, Raymond Community Forest, Raymond, Maine · ≈ 10 × 6″ (24 × 16 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Fabales | Legumes (pea and bean families) |
| Family | Fabaceae | Legume family (peas and beans) |
| Genus | Desmodium | Fromthe Greek desmos, “bond, fetter, halter, or chain” |
| Species | paniculatum | With the flowers in panicles |
Desmodium paniculatum description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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