Desmodium perplexum

Sizes available: HPP 2.5x2.5x3.5 inch pot

Basics: zones 3-10, 2.5-5' x 18", part sun to part shade, pink, pea-like flowers in mid-summer to early fall, dry to medium moisture, somewhat rocky and well-drained soils

Common names: Perplexed Tick Trefoil (Desmodium="like a chain" and perplexum refers to it's "clouded" taxonomy as Desmodiums are tricky to distinguish from one another.

Family: Fabaceae

Origin/Distribution: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center says D. perplexum occurs in 34 states including all of New England. The range extends from Maine west to Iowa and south to northern Florida and Louisiana.

Habitat: forest edge, open forest, woodland, dry uplands, old fields, power line clearings

More: All the Desmodiums are tap-rooted nitrogen fixers. The showy and quite elegant foliage of the Tick-trefoils is browsed by rabbits, deer, groundhogs, and livestock. Wild Turkeys and small mammals like mice and chipmunks will enjoy the seeds, and long-tongued bees will feed at the flowers. This is a larval host plant for the Northern Cloudywing, Thorybes pylades, and the Southern Cloudywing, Thorybes bathyllus, both of which are native to Maine. The Southern Cloudywing is designated as a Species of Special Concern in Maine. This plant may self sow if happy

Nursery: Honey Petal Plants grown from seed from the North American Rock Garden Society Seed Exchange, 2024

Image credits: Image coming soon!