Desmodium adscendens (Sw.) DC.

Global description

Desmodium adscendens is a sarmentous plant with stems more or less trailing and ascending at apex, pubescent but becoming glabrous when aged. The leaves are trifoliate, with lateral symmetrical leaflets, elliptical or oval, smaller than the terminal leaflet. The ribs are lightly marked. The inflorescences are terminal or axilaries, elongated. The flowers are white, pink or purple in colour, are organized in pairs. The fruit is a pod ending in a short tip, with 3 to 6 articles at right top edge and bottom edge fringed between the articles up to half or 2/3 of the width of the pod.

First leaves

The first leaves are simple, then becoming bi-foliate then trifoliate from the fifth leaf. The lamina is elliptical, attenuated at the end, 1.5 to 3 cm long and 0.7 to 2 cm wide. The upper side is puberulent to sub-glabrous, the lower face finely pubescent. The margin is entire.
 
General habit

Desmodium adscendens is a sarmentous plant, with long spreading stems, more or less ascending, reaching up to 1 m length.
 
Stem

Sprawling or ascending stems, pubescent with long yellow appressed hairs when young, becoming shaggy hairs on mature stems and then becoming rapidly glabrescent with age. It is solid with rounded to slightly trigonal section.
 
Leaf
 
Adult leaves are alternate, compound, trifoliate. They are held by a petiole subtended by two closely oval lanceolate stipules, slightly asymmetrical at the base, attenuated at the top, 5 to 10 mm long and free. The lateral leaflets are broadly elliptic to obovate, shortly petiolulate with small stipels at the base. They are symmetrical in shape. They measure 1.5 to 4.5 cm long and 0.7 to 3 cm wide. The terminal leaflet is obovate, much bigger than the lateral leaflets. The leaflets are attenuated cuneate at its base and largely or rounded cuneate at the top with a very short mucro. The margin is entire. The upper side is puberulent to glabrous, the lower surface is finely pubescent, of uniform green color, usually not variegated. Young leaves have underside with abundant appressed yellow hairs. The lateral venations are arched, not reaching the margin, but are slightly marked.
 
Inflorescence
 
The inflorescence is a loose terminal or axilary racems, 4 to 20 cm long, with long straggly hairs, comprising of a succession of stalked flowers, arranged in pairs. Primary bracts are narrowly ovate, attenuated at the top, 4 to 6 mm long, pubescent and quickly deciduous.
 
Flower
 
Flower is of papilionaceous type, and is held by a pedicel 4 to 15 mm long (up to 20 mm on the fruit). The tubular calyx of 2 to 3 mm long is divided into narrow triangular lobes, on more than half of its length. The outer surface is finely puberulent, covered with hooked hairs, longer on the lobes. The standard is white, pink or purple, 4 to 5.5 mm long. The stamens are fused into a beam of 9 stamens forming a sleeve under the ovary, with 1 free stamen above the ovary.
 
Fruit

The fruit is a pod, 1 to 3.5 cm long, ending with a short often angled tip. The pod consist of 3 to 6 obovate articles, 5 to 8 mm long and 3 to 4 mm wide, the upper edge is straight and the lower edge is indented between the articles up to half or two thirds of the width. The tegument is covered with small hanging hooked hairs.
 
Seed

The seed is flattened, kidney-shaped to ellipsoid, 4 to 5 mm long and 2.5 mm wide.

https://www.gbif.org/species/2967767