Family: Fabaceae
cluster-leaf tick-trefoil, pointed tick-trefoil
[Desmodium acuminatum (Michx.) DC., more...]
Christopher Noll
Christopher Noll
University of Wisconsin - Madison (WIS-VP)
Etymology: Desmodium: Greek meaning "long branch or chain," probably from the shape and the way the seedpods attach
Plants: erect, perennial, 2'-5' tall forb; stems unbranched
Leaves: usually several 3-parted, long-stalked leaves bunched just below the flowere cluster; leaflets broadly oval
Flowers: pink, 5-parted, 1/4"-1/3" long, stalked; inflorescence a 4"-32" branched cluster (panicle) on a leafy stalk; blooms July-Aug.
Fruits: flat pod covered with clinging, hooked hairs and divided into 2 or 3 rounded triangular segments
Habitat: shade; dry; woods; in rich soil
Plants: erect, perennial, 2'-5' tall forb; stems unbranched
Leaves: usually several 3-parted, long-stalked leaves bunched just below the flowere cluster; leaflets broadly oval
Flowers: pink, 5-parted, 1/4"-1/3" long, stalked; inflorescence a 4"-32" branched cluster (panicle) on a leafy stalk; blooms July-Aug.
Fruits: flat pod covered with clinging, hooked hairs and divided into 2 or 3 rounded triangular segments
Habitat: shade; dry; woods; in rich soil
Dry to mesic forests of oak-maple, oak-hickory, oak-pine, maple-basswood, maple-oak; also in fields and thickets, oak savannas, and on sandstone bluffs and ledges. This is a more robust species than H. nudiflorum; both have annoying fruits that stick to clothes and fur. Found throughout the state, but absent from the Northern Highlands and most of the North Central Forest as well as parts of extreme northwestern Wisconsin.
Floristic Rating: Coefficient of Conservatism = 6 Atlas of the Wisconsin Prairie and Savanna Flora: by T.S. Cochrane & H.H. Iltis: habitat, distribution infomation / flowering and fruiting times USDA Plants Database: Federal Distribution and detailed information including photos Dan Tenaglia's The Missouri Flora: Fabulous photographs; detailed descriptions; color and leave arrangement key.
-calyx lobes rounded or triangular, much shorter that the tube
-stipules none
-inflorescence borne on a leafy stem (leaves crowded at the base of the peduncle)
-blade of terminal leaflet about as broad as long or broade
-pedicels < 1 cm even in fruit
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Christopher Noll
Derek Anderson
Hugh H. Iltis
Derek Anderson
Stephen L. Solheim
Christopher Noll
