Scientific name Desmodium | Subtribe Desmodiinae | |
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Lower classifications Sweetheart, Desmodium gangeticum, Desmodium triflorum, Desmodium incanum, Desmodium canadense | ||
Medicinal plant desmodium triflorum linn creeping tick trefoil
Desmodium is a genus in the flowering plant family Fabaceae, sometimes called tick-trefoil, tick clover, hitch hikers or beggar lice. There are dozens of species and the delimitation of the genus has shifted much over time.
Contents
- Medicinal plant desmodium triflorum linn creeping tick trefoil
- Telegraph plant desmodium motorium desmodium gyrans aturi
- Uses
- Use in traditional medicine
- Taxonomy and systematics
- Species
- Formerly placed here
- References
These are mostly inconspicuous legumes; few have bright or large flowers. Though some can become sizeable plants, most are herbs or small shrubs. Their fruit are loments, meaning each seed is dispersed individually enclosed in its segment. This makes them tenacious plants and some species are considered weeds in places. They have a variety of uses, as well.
Telegraph plant desmodium motorium desmodium gyrans aturi
Uses
Several Desmodium species contain potent secondary metabolites. They are used aggressively in agriculture in push-pull technology. Tick-trefoils produce high amounts of antixenotic allomones - chemicals which repel many insect pests - and allelopathic compounds which kill weeds. For example, D. intortum and D. uncinatum are employed as groundcover in maize and sorghum fields to repel Chilo partellus, a stem-boring grass moth. They also suppress witchweeds such as Asiatic witchweed (Striga asiatica) and purple witchweed (S. hermonthica).
Tick-trefoils are generally useful as living mulch and as green manure, as they are able to improve soil fertility via nitrogen fixation. Most also make good fodder for animals including bobwhite, turkey, grouse and deer.
Some Desmodium species have been shown to contain high amounts of tryptamine alkaloids, though many tryptamine-containing Desmodium species have been transferred to other genera.
The caterpillars of the lesser grass blue (Zizina otis) and the two-barred flasher (Astraptes fulgerator) feed on tick-trefoils. Deer also appear to rely on some species in certain areas, particularly during the more stressful summer months.
Use in traditional medicine
Some Desmodium species are used in traditional African medicine, and are also used in Western alternative medicine.
Taxonomy and systematics
The taxonomy and systematics of the many dozens of Desmodium species are confusing and unresolved. Related genera such as Codariocalyx, Hylodesmum, Lespedeza, Ohwia, and Phyllodium were and sometimes still are included in Desmodium.
Taxonomic authorities commonly disagree about the naming and placement of species. For example, Desmodium spirale as described by August Grisebach might refer to a distinct species, but its validity is doubtful. The "Desmodium spirale" of other authorities may refer to D. neomexicanum, D. ospriostreblum, or D. procumbens. Similarly, the plant originally described as D. podocarpum by A. P. de Candolle is Hylodesmum podocarpum today, but "Desmodium podocarpum" might also refer to D. hookerianum or Hylodesmum laxum, depending on the taxonomic authority.
Species
This is an incomplete list:
Formerly placed here
and many more