Showy Tick-trefoil
Scientific Name: Desmodium canadense
Category: plant
Brief Description
A native perennial wildflower in the legume family known for its tall stalks of pinkish-purple pea-like flowers and sticky seed pods.
Characteristics
Stands 2-5 feet tall with trifoliate (three-parted) leaves. The flowers are pink or purple, arranged in dense terminal racemes. The seed pods (loments) are segmented into 3-5 rounded parts covered in hooked hairs that cling to fur or clothing.
Habitat
Found in prairies, open woodlands, thickets, and along riverbanks. It thrives in full sun to partial shade and moist to mesic soils.
When to Find It
Blooms from mid-summer to early autumn (July to September).
Conservation Status
Secure in most of its range, but listed as rare or endangered in some northeastern U.S. states.
Ecological Role
Highly valuable for pollinators, especially long-tongued bees like bumblebees and leaf-cutting bees. It is a host plant for the caterpillars of Eastern Tailed-Blue and Hoary Edge butterflies. Its seeds provide food for game birds like wild turkeys.
Easily Confused With
Hairy Tick-trefoil (Desmodium paniculatum) which has more slender leaves and smaller flowers, or Illinois Tick-trefoil (Desmodium illinoense) which has hooked hairs on the stem itself.
Observation Tips
Look for this plant in prairie restorations or at the edges of woods. Be prepared for the 'sticktights' (seed pods) to hitch a ride on your pants if you walk through a patch in late autumn.
Interesting Facts
The genus name Desmodium comes from the Greek word 'desmos', meaning a bond or chain, referring to the way the seed pods are joined together in segments.