Desmodium cuspidatum(Muhl. ex Willd.) DC. ex G.Don

largebract ticktrefoil

WFO wfo-0000175480 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Desmodium cuspidatum, photographed by Bob
fig. a Bob, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-08-16 / obs. 151246137
Desmodium cuspidatum, photographed by John Abrams
fig. b John Abrams, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 146913870
Desmodium cuspidatum, photographed by Gordon C. Snelling
fig. c Gordon C. Snelling, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 92902411
Desmodium cuspidatum, photographed by k2018lena
fig. d k2018lena, CC0 1.0 / obs. 51833371
Desmodium cuspidatum, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. e Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 23149363
Desmodium cuspidatum, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. f Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 22937833
Desmodium cuspidatum, photographed by Rose Zappa
fig. g Rose Zappa, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 155977066
Desmodium cuspidatum, photographed by Kate Manning
fig. h Kate Manning, CC0 1.0 / obs. 154379511

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 17 botanical countries

Regions where Desmodium cuspidatum is native: Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin AlabamaFloridaIllinoisIowaKentuckyMarylandMinnesotaMissouriNew YorkNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaPennsylvaniaTennesseeVermontWest VirginiaWisconsin
Native distribution of Desmodium cuspidatum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Florida FLA
Illinois ILL
Iowa IOW
Kentucky KTY
Maryland MRY
Minnesota MIN
Missouri MSO
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Pennsylvania PEN
Tennessee TEN
Vermont VER
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 13 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Desmodium bracteosum DC.
  • Desmodium bracteosum var. cuspidatum (Muhl. ex Willd.) DC.
  • Desmodium bracteosum var. longifolium (Torr. & A.Gray) B.L.Rob.
  • Desmodium canadense var. longifolium Torr. & A.Gray
  • Desmodium cuspidatum var. cuspidatum
  • Desmodium cuspidatum var. longifolium (Torr. & A.Gray) B.G.Schub.
  • Desmodium longifolium (Vail) Daniels
  • Hedysarum bracteosum Michx.
  • Hedysarum cuspidatum Muhl. ex Willd.
  • Meibomia bracteosa Kuntze
  • Meibomia bracteosa (DC.) Shafer
  • Meibomia cuspidata Schindl.
  • Meibomia longifolia Vail

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.