Plant Name
Scientific Name: Desmodium intortum
Synonym: Meibomia intorta
Common Names: Greenleaf Ticktrefoil, Greenleaf Tick Trefoil, Greenleaf Desmodium, Green Leaf Desmodium, Beggarlice
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Annual, Perennial
Growth Habit: Vine, Herb/Forb
Hawaii Native Status: Introduced. This naturalized cattle forage crop is native to tropical America.
Flower Color: Pinkish purple to lilac
Height: To 3 feet (1 m) tall
Description: The flowers are in terminal or axillary racemes. The individual flowers are pea-like and 2-lipped with a fan-shaped upper banner "petal" composed of 2 fused petals. The flowers wilt and age to a bright blue or greenish white color on the plant. The flowers are followed by oblong, flattened, brown bean pods covered with hooked hairs that allow them to easily adhere to clothing and animal fur. Walking through these plants will leave your socks covered in these half moon-shaped seed "ticks". The leaves are trifoliolate with 3 green, broadly ovate to diamond-shaped leaflets. The stems are climbing or sprawling, hairy, slender, and triangular in cross section.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae – Pea family
Genus: Desmodium Desv. – ticktrefoil
Species: Desmodium intortum (Mill.) Urb. – greenleaf ticktrefoil
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