desmodium species

List of Desmodium species

• Desmodium acanthocladum F. Muell.
• Desmodium affine Schltdl.
• Desmodium alamanii DC.
• Desmodium album (Schindl.) J.F. Macbr.
• Desmodium ambiguum Hemsl.
• Desmodium amplifolium Hemsl.
• Desmodium angustatum (Rose & Standl.) Standl.
• Desmodium angustifolium (Kunth) DC.

1. What is desmodium used for?
2. What is the meaning of desmodium?
3. How is desmodium dispersed?
4. Is desmodium a legume?

What is desmodium used for?

Greenleaf desmodium is mainly used as a fodder legume. It can be grazed as a long-term pasture, cut and offered fresh in cut-and-carry systems, or cut from irrigated pastures for conservation as hay or silage.

What is the meaning of desmodium?

1 capitalized : a large genus of coarse chiefly tropical and perennial leguminous herbs comprising the tick trefoils and having stipulate pinnate leaves, racemose flowers, and indehiscent fruits that separate into one-seeded segments and often stick to anything touching them — see beggarweed, telegraph plant.

How is desmodium dispersed?

The fruit is a legume pod jointed into three or four segments, with each segment up to 8 millimetres (¹⁄₃ in) long. The segments are dispersed on animal fur.

Is desmodium a legume?

Desmodium is a trailing or climbing perennial legume with small leaves and deep roots which, in favourable conditions, forms very dense ground cover. Desmodium is popular in cut-and-carry systems. There are numerous varieties of desmodium but the two most common are the green leafed and the silver leafed ones.