Plant Image
Flower
Highlands Center for Natural History - Sue Smith


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Desmodium rosei - Rose's ticktrefoil

Other Common Names: rose tickclover
Plant Form: Forb or Subshrub

Family: Fabaceae


   
 
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Bracts and flower
Highlands Center for Natural History
Sue Smith
Leaf
Highlands Center for Natural History
Sue Smith
Plant - summer
Highlands Center for Natural History
Sue Smith
Fruit
Highlands Center for Natural History
Sue Smith
Forb Plant Description

Origin: Native   Life Cycle: Annual   Similar Species: Desmodium neomexicanum
General Desc: Stems are erect or slightly curving. Solid stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy with hooked hairs or prickles.
Identification notes: Fruit pods of 1 - 4 rounded segments, that are not contorted, unlike D. neomexicanum.
Height: 8 inches


Habitat

Habitat Description: Found often in grasslands and on slopes and mesas.
Plant Communities: Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest
Elevation: 3500 - 6500 feet


Flower Characteristics

Color: Whitish-pink to purple     Shape: Irregular in elongated clusters     Tubular: N     Flowering Period: Aug - Sep
Description: Bracts very small or absent. Flowers are bilaterally symetrical in one plain. The calyx is 2-lipped or 2-lobed and hairy. Petals are separate and clawed. Corolla is butterfly-like and ovoid.


Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaf Color: Green     Leaf Type: Compound     Leaf Shape: Narrow     Leaf Margin: Smooth     Leaf Attachment: Alternate     Leaves Clasp: N
Hairs: Leaves and stems     Spines: Y
Leaf Description: Leaves are trifoliolate with narrow leaflets up to 1-1/2 inches long and about 1/4 of an inch wide. Leaflets have hairs on the margins but otherwise nearly hairless. Leaflets are opposite.


Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Fruit Color: Brown   
Fruit Type: Pod
Fruit Notes: Has 1 to 4 rounded segments all less than 1/4 of an inch long. Segments are nearly free of hairs, not contorted and with flat margins. Pods have hairs on the edges but otherwise nearly hairless. Changes color from green to brown.
Seed Notes: Seeds are smooth and ovoid to rounded in outline. Seeds olive, brown, or black.



  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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