Desmodium incanum(Sw.) DC.

zarzabacoa comun

WFO wfo-0000184175 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Desmodium incanum, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. a Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-14 / obs. 197947579
Desmodium incanum, photographed by Caroline Voget
fig. b Caroline Voget, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 200456435
Desmodium incanum, photographed by Theo Summer
fig. c Theo Summer, CC0 1.0 / obs. 193651826
Desmodium incanum, photographed by Nick Schaller
fig. d Nick Schaller, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 193746264
Desmodium incanum, photographed by Margaret Burger
fig. e Margaret Burger, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 194852819
Desmodium incanum, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. f Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 190489041
Desmodium incanum, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. g Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 186697122
Desmodium incanum, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. h Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 180122601

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 44 botanical countries

Regions where Desmodium incanum is native: Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Cayman Is., Central American Pacific Is., Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Galápagos, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Southwest Caribbean, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Turks-Caicos Is., Uruguay, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is. Mexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralCentral American Pacific Is.ColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruPuerto RicoSouthwest CaribbeanSurinameTrinidad-TobagoUruguayVenezuela Cayman Is.GalápagosLeeward Is.Netherlands AntillesTurks-Caicos Is.Venezuelan AntillesWindward Is.
Native distribution of Desmodium incanum, 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. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Cayman Is. CAY
Central American Pacific Is. CPI
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Galápagos GAL
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Netherlands Antilles NLA
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Southwest Caribbean SWC
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Turks-Caicos Is. TCI
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Venezuelan Antilles VNA
Windward Is. WIN
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

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.

Flowering 678 in flower of 771 examined

Peak flowering in Aug. Each bar is the share of Desmodium incanum observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 678 of 771 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 45 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.

  • Aeschynomene incana (Sw.) G.Mey.
  • Aeschynomene spicata Poir.
  • Desmodium ancistrocarpum (Ledeb.) DC.
  • Desmodium canum (J.F.Gmel.) Schinz & Thell.
  • Desmodium diversifolium Schltdl.
  • Desmodium diversifolium (Poir.) DC.
  • Desmodium frutescens Schindl.
  • Desmodium incanum f. minor Chodat & Hassl.
  • Desmodium incanum f. obovatifolium Wawra
  • Desmodium incanum var. incanum
  • Desmodium incanum var. supinum (DC.) Hook. & Arn.
  • Desmodium lindleyi Mart.
  • Desmodium mauritianum (Willd.) DC.
  • Desmodium portoricense (Spreng.) G.Don
  • Desmodium sparsiflorum G.Don
  • Desmodium supinum DC.
  • Desmodium tenue G.Don
  • Desmodium variifolium Steud.
  • Hedysarum ancistrocarpum Ledeb.
  • Hedysarum canescens Mill.
  • Hedysarum canum J.F.Gmel.
  • Hedysarum canum Lunan
  • Hedysarum conjunctum Weinm.
  • Hedysarum diversifolium Poir.

and 21 more.

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.