Desmodium
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Desmodium' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Family
- Fabaceae
Editorial Note
Desmodium as traditionally circumscribed (with as many as 300 species, depending on the treatment) has been shown to be polyphyletic (Ohashi et al. 2018). This has resulted in the transferral of a number of species to other genera, at least six of which are new genera. Most of the hardy species formerly in cultivation as Desmodium are included in Sunhangia gen. nov. described in 2019. Desmodium itself appears to be confined to America (e.g. the herbacous D. canadense), except for three very doubtful species from Africa, New Caledonia and Australia (Ohashi et al. 2021).
A large genus of shrubs and herbs, widely spread chiefly in tropical and warm temperate regions; about 150 species are known, very few of which are hardy with us. They are nearly akin to Lespedeza, a genus with one-seeded pods, whereas they have a several-seeded, jointed pod.