3807.000 Desmodium Desv.

Ohashi, H. & Ohashi, K. (2019) Desmodium (Leguminosae Tribe Desmodieae) of Africa, Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands Journal of Japanese Botany 94(3) 135148

Ohashi, K, Ohashi, H., Nemoto, T., Ikeda, T., Izumi, H., Kobayashi, H., Muragaki, H., Nata, K., Sato, N. & Suzuki, M. (2018) Phylogenetic Analyses for a New Classification of the Desmodium Group of Leguminosae Tribe Desmodieae Journal of Japanese Botany 93(3) 165189

Verdcourt, B. (2000) Papilionoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(6)

Description of the genus

Shrubs or herbs. Stipules free or joined; stipels present. Leaves 1-foliolate or pinnately 3-foliolate. Inflorescences axillary or terminal, falsely racemose or paniculate. Calyx not glume-like, small (tube usually 1-2 mm, lobes 1-5 mm (in ours)), 5-lobed, either the lobes subequal or mostly ± 2-lipped. Standard variously coloured. Ovary sessile (1-)2-many-ovulate. Pod transversely jointed, flattened with (1-)2-many 1-seeded articles, often with hooked hairs.

Comment: Recent phylogenic research established that the formerly broadly described genus Desmodium was polyphyletic. This means that only those species native to tropical America and introduced in Africa and elsewhere remain as Desmodium. All native species formerly placed in Desmodium have now been moved to various new genera: Grona, Bouffordia, Polhillides and Pleurolobus. One species had already previously moved to Hylodesmum.

Worldwide: 187 species native Central and South America with some widely introduced in the Old World tropics.

Zimbabwe: 4 taxa.

Insects associated with this genus:
Antheua simplex (Burnished frill) Food plant
Mocis mayeri (Brown Lines) Larval food plant
Desmodium uncinatum

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
ospriostreblum Chiov.N,W,E,SDescription, Image
psilocarpum GrayC
tortuosum (Sw.) DC.N,C,EDescription, Image
uncinatum (Jacq.) DC.N,C,EDescription, Image

Other sources of information about Desmodium:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Desmodium
Flora of Burundi: Desmodium
Flora of Caprivi: Desmodium
Flora of Malawi: Desmodium
Flora of Mozambique: Desmodium
Flora of Zambia: Desmodium
Flora of Zambia: cultivated Desmodium
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Desmodium

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Desmodium
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Desmodium
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Desmodium
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Desmodium
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Desmodium
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Desmodium
JSTOR Plant Science: Desmodium
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Desmodium
Plants of the World Online: Desmodium
Tropicos: Desmodium
Wikipedia: Desmodium

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Genus page: Desmodium.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=744, retrieved 7 December 2024

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