SafePlants

No images found for this plant ID: 14064.

Ensure images are uploaded to the Media Library and tagged with "14064" in the "plant_image_tag" taxonomy.

Safe for Children?

✅ Safe: 0
❓ Neutral: 0
❌ Unsafe: 0

Safe for Dogs?

✅ Safe: 0
❓ Neutral: 0
❌ Unsafe: 0

Safe for Cats?

✅ Safe: 0
❓ Neutral: 0
❌ Unsafe: 0

Safe for Reptiles?

✅ Safe: 0
❓ Neutral: 0
❌ Unsafe: 0

Desmodium elegans

Scientific Name: Desmodium elegans

Family: Fabaceae

Category: Dicot

Growth:

Duration:

Other Names:

       

Desmodium elegans: Elegant Tick Clover

Desmodium elegans, commonly known as elegant tick clover, is a deciduous sub-shrub appreciated for its attractive foliage and prolific flowering.

Considerations for Pets

  • The plant is known as a tick clover or tick-trefoil.

Taxonomy and Nomenclature

  • Scientific Name: Desmodium elegans DC.
  • Family: Leguminosae (Fabaceae)
  • Synonyms:
    • Desmodium cinerascens Franch.
    • Desmodium handelii Schindl.
    • Desmodium tiliifolium
    • Desmodium elegans subsp. stenophyllum (Pamp.)Ohashi (considered a synonym for Desmodium stenophyllum Pamp.)
    • Hedysarum tiliifolium
    • Meibomia tiliifolia
  • Alternative Scientific Names (formerly):
    • Desmodium tiliifolium
    • Hedysarum tiliifolium
    • Meibomia tiliifolia

Distribution and Habitat

  • Native to forests, thickets, and mountainous regions.
  • Widely distributed in temperate Asia, including China, Afghanistan, Bhutan, northeastern and southwestern India, Kashmir, and Nepal.

Morphology and Growth Habits

  • Deciduous shrub or sub-shrub, typically growing to 3-6 feet (approximately 1-1.8 meters) in height and up to 1.5m (5ft) wide.
  • Erect woody shrub with trifoliate leaves.
  • Palmate leaves with oblong to ovate, dark green leaflets that are grey and hairy beneath.
  • Produces a profusion of pale lilac pea flowers in large panicles.
  • Flowers from August to October.

Ecological Role

  • The plant is part of the Desmodium genus, which are sometimes called tick-trefoil.

Traditional and Medicinal Uses

  • Desmodium elegans is considered a medicinal plant.
  • The stem of Desmodium elegans is used in traditional medicine.
  • Studies have been conducted to evaluate the methanolic extract of Desmodium elegans for its phytochemical properties and phytotoxic activity.

Quirky Facts

  • Botanists have changed the name of this plant several times.

Further Resources

  • RHS (Royal Horticultural Society)
  • The Plant List
  • IPNI (International Plant Names Index)
  • Australian Plant Name Index
  • NYBG (New York Botanical Garden) Virtual Herbarium
  • NCBI Taxonomy checklist
  • B and T World Seeds' database
  • ILDIS (International Legume Database & Information Service)