North Carolina Wildflowers, Shrubs, & Trees

by Jeffrey S. Pippen | Back to Jeff's Plant Page | Jeff's Nature Pages


Fabaceae > Hylodesmum (Tick-trefoil)

Naked Tick Trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum, Desmodium nudiflorum) Naked Tick Trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum, Desmodium nudiflorum)
Edge of mixed woods dirt roadside, Korstian Division, Duke Forest
10 July 2013

Common statewide in forested habitats in North Carolina. Flower stems are leafless and leafy stems are flowerless in this species, hence its name!

Naked Tick Trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum, Desmodium nudiflorum) Naked Tick Trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum, Desmodium nudiflorum)
Edge of mixed woods dirt roadside, Korstian Division, Duke Forest
10 July 2013

Calyx lobes are shorter than the calyx tube and stamens are monodelphous. These are two of the characters that support splitting this group into the genus Hylodesmum and out of Desmodium.

Naked Tick Trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum, Desmodium nudiflorum) Naked Tick Trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum, Desmodium nudiflorum)
Edge of mixed woods dirt roadside, Korstian Division, Duke Forest
10 July 2013

With thumbnail for size comparison

Naked Tick Trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum, Desmodium nudiflorum) Naked Tick Trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum, Desmodium nudiflorum)
Edge of mixed woods dirt roadside, Korstian Division, Duke Forest
10 July 2013

Leaves pubescent with ciliate margins

Naked Tick Trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum, Desmodium nudiflorum) Naked Tick Trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum, Desmodium nudiflorum)
Edge of mixed woods dirt roadside, Korstian Division, Duke Forest
10 July 2013

Naked Tick Trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum, Desmodium nudiflorum) Naked Tick Trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum, Desmodium nudiflorum)
Edge of mixed woods dirt roadside, Korstian Division, Duke Forest
10 July 2013


Annotated habitat and distribution information listed above is from Radford, Ahles, & Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. UNC Press; Alan Weakley's Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia; and from personal observations and discussions with Will Cook, Harry LeGrand, and Bob Wilbur. Supplemental resources include USDA plants website, and NatureServe.


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Created on ... July 12, 2013 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com