Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA
Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA
Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA
Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA
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Family: Fabaceae (Legume / Pea family)
Mid-Atlantic bloom time:
June - August
Mid-Atlantic fruit ripe:
August - October
Pointed-leaf Tick-trefoil's flowers are pink or purple, not white (like Few-flowered Tick-trefoil (Hylodesmum pauciflorum)). Its flowering stems also have leaves on them (unlike Naked-flowered Tick-trefoil (Hylodesmum nudiflorum)). Its leaves are whorled, each with broadly ovate three leaflets.
The genus Hylodesmum (Forest Tick-trefoils) was separated from Desmodium in 2000 after determining that a large number of species in that former genus formed a monophyletically distinct clade sufficiently different from other species in Desmodium to warrant elevation to genus level. The new genus name is derived from Greek 'hyle' (meaning forest), and 'desmos' (meaning a chain, and as abbreviated form of Desmodium).1. The common term 'tick' derives from their triangular seeds which (when ripe) cling to clothes or fur to hitchhike to a new location.
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7 August 2024
Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA
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7 August 2024
Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA
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7 August 2024
Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA
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7 August 2024
Great Falls National Park, Great Falls, VA
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References
1: H. Ohashi, R. R. Mill. "Hylodesmum, A New Name for Podocarpium (Leguminosae)". Edinburgh Journal of Botany, 57:2, p. 171-188. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2000.