Desmodium rhytidophyllum (FABACEAE) Hairly Trefoil

Plants to Plant

Twining perennial herb or trailing shrub up to 1 m long or tall on sandy or stony soils in dry sclerophyll forest, north from Nowra district, NSW. Stems with dense, rusty, spreading hairs. Leaves three-foliolate, both surfaces appressed-pubescent, petiole 7-35 mm long, stipules around 4-6 mm long.

Photo: Robert Whyte

Flowers

Flowers up to 6 mm long, purple to pink, almost all year. Pod 15-25 mm long, covered with minute, hooked hairs. Also known as Rusty Tic-Trefoil.
Photo: Robert Whyte