Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Desmodium ciliare
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
The stem of D. ciliare is quite pubescent, an important identification character, to help separate it from D. marilandicum. Learn more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Desmodium ciliare var. ciliare
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 11 (2023)
Desmodium marilandicum var. ciliare
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Desmodium marilandicum var. ciliare
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Desmodium ciliare var. ciliare
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Desmodium ciliare var. lancifolium
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Desmodium ciliare
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-26-013:
Desmodium ciliare FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Meibomia ciliaris
COMMON NAME:
Hairy Small-leaf Tick-trefoil, Littleleaf Tick-trefoil
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm230812_5008
August Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm230812_5011
August Greenville County SC
Leaflets sparsely to abundantly pilose on both surfaces and especially so above, rarely glabrate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm0509d_36b
September Greenville County SC
Petals pink to purplish, 3-5mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
Beggar's Lice (Tick-trefoil) species
)
JK Marlow jkm140907_343
September Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Stem pilose but petioles well-developed ... D. ciliare x D. marilandicum?, per Native and Naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the United States (Isely, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm140907_346347
September Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Probably D. ciliare x D. marilandicum.
)
JK Marlow jkm140907_354b
September Jackson County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Probably D. ciliare x D. marilandicum.
)
JK Marlow jkm160920_003
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm160920_008
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm190903_1145
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm190905_1286
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm190905_1289
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm190905_1290
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm230907_5305
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm230907_5305b
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm230907_5306
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow s050910_f
September Greenville County SC
Inflorescence usually paniculate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow s050910_g
September Greenville County SC
Pedicels (2-)4-9mm long, each subtended by a secondary bract or bractlet, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow s050910_i
September Greenville County SC
Small blunt leaflets with petioles under 3/8", more or less soft-hairy, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow s051118_a
November Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow s051118_b
November Greenville County SC
Loment of 1-2(-3) subovate segments, each 3.5-6mm long and 2.8-4mm broad, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
loments of Desmodium species
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Desmodium ciliare
FAMILY
Fabaceae
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Desmodium ciliare var. ciliare
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 11
Desmodium marilandicum var. ciliare
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Desmodium marilandicum var. ciliare
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Desmodium ciliare var. ciliare
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Desmodium ciliare var. lancifolium
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Desmodium ciliare
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-26-013:
Desmodium ciliare
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Meibomia ciliaris
1885
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Fields, woodland borders, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
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/Fall
Rose-purplish
Bilaterally symmetrical
2-lipped calyx
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
10 stamens, diadelphous, 9 and 1
Superior ovary
Flowers in terminal panicles
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Loment with 1-3 rounded segments
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p062
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p333
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p191
- 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
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p076
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".