Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Desmodium tenuifolium
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Slimleaf Tick-trefoil from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Desmodium tenuifolium
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Desmodium tenuifolium
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-26-011:
Desmodium tenuifolium FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Meibomia tenuifolia
COMMON NAME:
Slimleaf Tick-trefoil, Savanna Slender Tick-trefoil
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Patrick D. McMillan pdmdtenuifolium_scotts1
May Williamsburg County SC
Inflorescence usually paniculate, pedicels 4-10mm long, petals 4-5mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
Beggar's Lice (Tick-trefoil) species
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Desmodium tenuifolium
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Desmodium tenuifolium
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Desmodium tenuifolium
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-26-011:
Desmodium tenuifolium
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Meibomia tenuifolia
2421
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: pine savannas, wet pine flatwoods, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Coastal Plain (rare in Piedmont)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Mostly alternate
FLOWER:
Summer
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!
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p336
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p075
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".