Common names: hoary tick clover, beggar's lice

Scientific names: Desmodium canescans (Meibomia canescens)

Seasons of significant use: summer (for Desmodium spp. complex)

Characteristics: Native, perennial, warm season forb to 5.0 feet. Stems abundant; leaves alternate, pinnately trifoliate compound; leaflets usually 3, mostly thick and rough to the touch, larger ones usually greater than 1.0 inch long, definitely longer than broad, stipules present; stipules present; stipules and bracts prominent, striate; inflorescence racemose-paniculate, becoming wide spreading; branches of inflorescence with short, but noticeable, spreading hairs; fruit is usually a 1-6 jointed loment, densely covered with short, hooked hairs. Flowers July-September.

Plant community type: Open uplands and bottomlands. Most often on drier sites.

Comments: Responds favorably to late winter-early spring burns. Often forms small colonies.

More Plant Photos and Descriptions:
Appendix C: Plants by Common Name
Appendix C: Plants by Scientific Name
Appendix C: Plants Listed by Family