Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Sessile-leaf tickclover

SESSILE-LEAF TICKCLOVER

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Desmodium sessilifolium (Torr. ) T. & G.

McPherson County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 2-4 feet

Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Also Called:

Sessile tickclover.

Stems:

Erect or ascending, 1-several from base, ridged longitudinally, simple to inflorescence, branching above, densely covered with minute hooked-hairs.

Leaves:

Alternate, nearly sessile, 3-foliolate; leaflets linear to linear-oblong, prominently net-veined and short-hairy beneath, minutely hooked-hairy above; terminal leaflet 1.4 to 3.6 inches long, 1/4 to 3/4 inch wide, tip rounded; lateral leaflets 1.2 to 2.4 inches long; stipules lance-tapering, 1/6 to 2/5 inch long.

Inflorescences:

Raceme-like panicled, terminal; branches long, slender.

Flowers:

On short stalk; calyx 2-lipped, minutely hairy; upper lip entire or notched; lower lip 3-lobed, middle lobe longer; corolla papilionaceous, pinkish, pale lavender or sometimes whitish, fading yellowish-white, 1/5 to 1/4 inch long; stamens 10, 9 united, 1 free.

Fruits:

Pods, flat, jointed; segments 1-4, rounded above and below, surfaces with minute hooked hairs; seeds 1 per segment, smooth, olive to brown.

Habitat:

Prairie hillsides and ravines, rocky open woodlands, sandy stream valleys, and roadsides; dry soil.

Distribution:

East 3/4 of Kansas.

Comments:

From Latin, sessilis "pertaining to sitting" for the leaf blade sitting close to the stem.

Sessile-leaf tickclover leaf