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Desmodium intortum

(Mill.) Urb. (1920)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Rosids Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Genus: Desmodium

tick clover, tick trefoil

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Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Prostrate or climbing herbs 3–10 dm tall.

Stems: Stems with white, spongy pith, densely hooked pubescent and often also pilose.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves compound (trifoliolate). Alternate. Leaflets broadly ovate to rhombic, terminal one 6–10 cm long, 4–6 cm wide. Surfaces appressed pilose, sometimes upper surface with a pale whitish mark along midrib. Leaflet margins entire. Petioles 6–9 cm long. Stipules dry and membranous, distinct. Leaflets stipellate.

Flowers: Flowers numerous in racemose inflorescences 5–12 cm long, these often grouped into open paniculate inflorescences up to 40 cm or more long, rachis pubescent with minute hooked hairs. Flowers papilionaceous; pedicels 5–7 mm long, deciduous with articles, pubescence same as rachis, borne at base of calyx. Calyx campanulate. Corolla purplish red to violet, ca. 10 mm long, exceeding the calyx, wings oblong, keel petals. Stamens 10. Ovary superior.

Fruit: Pods short–stipitate; 5–10–jointed; 2–4.5 cm long; densely pubescent with hooked hairs; articles nearly semicircular; 4–5 mm long; ca. 3 mm wide. Seeds compressed.

Ploidy: 2n = 22; 24

Habitat: Along roadsides and in pastures.

Elevation Range: 60–1158 m.

Historical Distribution

Images

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Uses and Culture

USES

  • Yes

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

Kaua'i Naturalized
O'ahu Naturalized
Molokai Only found in cultivation
Maui Naturalized
Hawai'i Naturalized

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Notes

  • Description digitized by Dylan Charter
  • Description digitized from the Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii
  • First collected in 1975 (Herbst & Ishikawa 5159, BISH).

Bibliography

Name Published In: Symb. Antill. 8: 292 (1920)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:667 (H); Herbarium Pacificum Staff 1998:9/Imada et al. 2000:12 (O); Staples et al. 2003:11 (K); Starr & Starr 2020:27 (EM)

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Description Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Desmodium intortum USDA/NRCS Hoolehua Plant Materials Center Preserved_Specimen Cultivated plant growing in Field 5A. Duvauchelle, D. Molokai BISH 2006-12-27
2 Desmodium intortum East Maui, Pukalani Community Center Crawling on vegetation and in lawn. Preserved_Specimen Perennial vine; spongy pith in stem, stems w. hooked hairs; leaves pubescent above. Starr, F. 202151 Maui BISH 2002-02-15
3 Desmodium intortum Kona, Kahaluu Forest Reserve, along lower boundry Preserved_Specimen vine or scandent subshrub with purple flowers Herbst, D.R. 5417 Hawaii BISH 1975-07-16
4 Desmodium intortum Maui, Hawaii, United States OBSERVATION Curtis Daehler Oahu HAPI 3/25/2007
5 Desmodium intortum Princeville, old nursery area between highway and Hanalei Valley OBSERVATION Curtis Daehler Kauai HAPI 7/19/2007
6 Desmodium intortum USDA/NRCS Hoolehua Plant Materials Center Preserved_Specimen Sprawling herb; cultivated fodder crop. Duvauchelle, D. Molokai BISH 2008-01-10
7 Desmodium intortum USDA/NRCS Hoolehua Plant Materials Center Cultivated crop. Preserved_Specimen Sprawling herb. Duvauchelle, D. Molokai BISH 2008-01-10
8 Desmodium intortum Kaumana Substation disturbed vegetation on 1881 lava flow; open Metrosideros with understory of introduced shrubs and Dicranopteris Preserved_Specimen flowers lavender Wagner, W.L. 4630 Hawaii BISH 1982-11-16
9 Desmodium intortum behind Akaka Falls State Park roadside, cane fields Preserved_Specimen decumbent to scandent subshrub with purple flowers Herbst, D.R. 5159 Hawaii BISH 1975-01-15
10 Desmodium intortum Waianae Range, N rim of Makua Valley Trailside sprawler in open, sunny area, with Melinis, Bidens alba, planted Pinus, Pteridium. Preserved_Specimen Imada, C. 993 Oahu BISH 1999-02-28
11 Desmodium intortum Princeville, old nursery area between highway and Hanalei Valley Abundant, growing between overgrown nursery plantings. Preserved_Specimen No flowers observed; old seed pods present. Char, W.P. Kauai BISH 2000-08-23
12 Desmodium intortum Koolau Mountains, Haiku Valley, along H-3 access road, fronting foot access path to Haiku Stairs Growing in alien mixed lowland wet forest. Preserved_Specimen Locally dominant tangle of herbaceous stems to 3 feet high, all parts pubescent, the stems with velcro-like hairs. Plants all sterile. Imada, C. 971 Oahu BISH 1997-05-19
13 Desmodium intortum East Maui, Makawao District, Eddie Tam Park Growing on fence and in abandoned pasture. Preserved_Specimen Prostrate perennial vine; spongy pith in stem. Starr, F. 202152 Maui BISH 2002-02-15
14 Desmodium intortum Kau, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Chain of Craters Road roadside in Metrosideros forest. Preserved_Specimen prostrate to 2' herb. Flowers red-violet Cuddihy, L.W. 2068 Hawaii BISH 1987-08-12
15 Desmodium intortum East Maui, Kahakapao Rd, near Makawao Forest Reserve Associated vegetation: Psidium guajava, Ulex. Preserved_Specimen Perennial, prostrate, sprawling, vine; flowers pink to purple, rachis w. hooked hairs; fruit constricted on mainly one side; appressed-pubescent foliage, stem w. white pith. Starr, F. 110302 Maui BISH 2001-10-30
16 Desmodium intortum USDA/NRCS Hoolehua Plant Materials Center Preserved_Specimen Cultivated plant growing in Field 5A. Duvauchelle, D. Molokai BISH 2006-12-27
17 Desmodium intortum East Maui, Pukalani Community Center Crawling on vegetation and in lawn. Preserved_Specimen Perennial vine; spongy pith in stem, stems w. hooked hairs; leaves pubescent above. Starr, F. 202151 Maui BISH 2002-02-15
18 Desmodium intortum Kona, Kahaluu Forest Reserve, along lower boundry Preserved_Specimen vine or scandent subshrub with purple flowers Herbst, D.R. 5417 Hawaii BISH 1975-07-16
19 Desmodium intortum Maui, Hawaii, United States OBSERVATION Curtis Daehler Oahu HAPI 3/25/2007
20 Desmodium intortum Princeville, old nursery area between highway and Hanalei Valley OBSERVATION Curtis Daehler Kauai HAPI 7/19/2007
21 Desmodium intortum USDA/NRCS Hoolehua Plant Materials Center Preserved_Specimen Sprawling herb; cultivated fodder crop. Duvauchelle, D. Molokai BISH 2008-01-10
22 Desmodium intortum USDA/NRCS Hoolehua Plant Materials Center Cultivated crop. Preserved_Specimen Sprawling herb. Duvauchelle, D. Molokai BISH 2008-01-10
23 Desmodium intortum Kaumana Substation disturbed vegetation on 1881 lava flow; open Metrosideros with understory of introduced shrubs and Dicranopteris Preserved_Specimen flowers lavender Wagner, W.L. 4630 Hawaii BISH 1982-11-16
24 Desmodium intortum behind Akaka Falls State Park roadside, cane fields Preserved_Specimen decumbent to scandent subshrub with purple flowers Herbst, D.R. 5159 Hawaii BISH 1975-01-15
25 Desmodium intortum Waianae Range, N rim of Makua Valley Trailside sprawler in open, sunny area, with Melinis, Bidens alba, planted Pinus, Pteridium. Preserved_Specimen Imada, C. 993 Oahu BISH 1999-02-28
26 Desmodium intortum Princeville, old nursery area between highway and Hanalei Valley Abundant, growing between overgrown nursery plantings. Preserved_Specimen No flowers observed; old seed pods present. Char, W.P. Kauai BISH 2000-08-23
27 Desmodium intortum Koolau Mountains, Haiku Valley, along H-3 access road, fronting foot access path to Haiku Stairs Growing in alien mixed lowland wet forest. Preserved_Specimen Locally dominant tangle of herbaceous stems to 3 feet high, all parts pubescent, the stems with velcro-like hairs. Plants all sterile. Imada, C. 971 Oahu BISH 1997-05-19
28 Desmodium intortum East Maui, Makawao District, Eddie Tam Park Growing on fence and in abandoned pasture. Preserved_Specimen Prostrate perennial vine; spongy pith in stem. Starr, F. 202152 Maui BISH 2002-02-15
29 Desmodium intortum Kau, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Chain of Craters Road roadside in Metrosideros forest. Preserved_Specimen prostrate to 2' herb. Flowers red-violet Cuddihy, L.W. 2068 Hawaii BISH 1987-08-12
30 Desmodium intortum East Maui, Kahakapao Rd, near Makawao Forest Reserve Associated vegetation: Psidium guajava, Ulex. Preserved_Specimen Perennial, prostrate, sprawling, vine; flowers pink to purple, rachis w. hooked hairs; fruit constricted on mainly one side; appressed-pubescent foliage, stem w. white pith. Starr, F. 110302 Maui BISH 2001-10-30
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