Desmodium marilandicum(L.) DC.

smooth small-leaf ticktrefoil

WFO wfo-0001053441 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Desmodium marilandicum, photographed by Yann Kemper
fig. a Yann Kemper, CC0 1.0 / 2021-09-11 / obs. 156766617
Desmodium marilandicum, photographed by Lynn Harper
fig. b Lynn Harper, CC0 1.0 / obs. 151508569
Desmodium marilandicum, photographed by Bonnie Semmling
fig. c Bonnie Semmling, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 148425339
Desmodium marilandicum, photographed by John Abrams
fig. d John Abrams, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 146808800
Desmodium marilandicum, photographed by Bonnie Semmling
fig. e Bonnie Semmling, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 141551532
Desmodium marilandicum, photographed by Bonnie Semmling
fig. f Bonnie Semmling, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 130603849
Desmodium marilandicum, photographed by runcator
fig. g runcator, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 52523496
Desmodium marilandicum, photographed by Frederick Nunley
fig. h Frederick Nunley, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 23656302

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 24 botanical countries

Regions where Desmodium marilandicum is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia AlabamaArkansasConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMississippiMissouriNew YorkNorth CarolinaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasVirginiaWest Virginia Rhode I.
Native distribution of Desmodium marilandicum, 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
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arkansas ARK
Connecticut CNT
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Oklahoma OKL
Pennsylvania PEN
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA

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 3 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.

  • Hedysarum marilandicum L.
  • Hedysarum obtusum Pursh
  • Meibomia marilandica (L.) Kuntze

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. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol DEMA2. public domain. 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.