Grona triflora(L.) H.Ohashi & K.Ohashi

threeflower ticktrefoil

WFO wfo-0001423675 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Grona triflora, photographed by Steve Fitzgerald
fig. a Steve Fitzgerald, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2022-06-02 / obs. 202587082

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.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
The New York Botanical Garden
Accession
02650221
Filed as
Grona triflora (L.) H.Ohashi & K.Ohashi
Det. by
S. Mattapha 2023-12-15
Collected
F. Kingdon-Ward 1931-11
Origin
MM
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC BY 4.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 106 botanical countries

Regions where Grona triflora is native: Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Nigeria, Réunion, Rodrigues, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Socotra, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Kazan-retto, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Yemen, Assam, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laccadive Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maldives, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan, Philippines, South China Sea, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Florida, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Caroline Is., Fiji, Marianas, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis-Futuna Is., Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Cayman Is., Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panamá, Puerto Rico, Southwest Caribbean, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Is. AngolaBeninBurundiCameroonCentral African RepublicCongoDR CongoEquatorial GuineaGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaLiberiaMadagascarMalawiMaliNigeriaSenegalSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanTaiwanYemenAssamBangladeshBismarck ArchipelagoBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPakistanPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamWest HimalayaFloridaMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestFijiBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEl SalvadorGuatemalaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáPuerto RicoSouthwest CaribbeanTrinidad-TobagoVenezuela ComorosMauritiusRéunionRodriguesNansei-shotoLaccadive Is.MaldivesSouth China SeaCaroline Is.MarianasSamoaTongaVanuatuWallis-Futuna Is.Cayman Is.Leeward Is.Netherlands AntillesWindward Is.
Native distribution of Grona triflora, 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
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Central African Republic CAF
Comoros COM
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Equatorial Guinea EQG
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
Liberia LBR
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritius MAU
Nigeria NGA
Réunion REU
Rodrigues ROD
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Socotra SOC
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Belize BLZ SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Cayman Is. CAY
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Netherlands Antilles NLA
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Puerto Rico PUE
Southwest Caribbean SWC
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
Bismarck Archipelago BIS
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laccadive Is. LDV
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maldives MDV
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
South China Sea SCS
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Kazan-retto KZN
Nansei-shoto NNS
Taiwan TAI
Yemen YEM
Florida FLA NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Fiji FIJ
Marianas MRN
Samoa SAM
Tonga TON
Vanuatu VAN
Wallis-Futuna Is. WAL

Not drawn on the map: Socotra, Kazan-retto. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

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 245 in flower of 285 examined

Proportion of examined Grona triflora in flower, by month
Month In flower Examined Share 95% interval
Jan 12 13 92% 67% to 99%
Feb 9 11 82% 52% to 95%
Mar 29 32 91% 76% to 97%
Apr 45 50 90% 79% to 96%
May 26 30 87% 70% to 95%
Jun 12 16 75% 51% to 90%
Jul 7 9 78% 45% to 94%
Aug 12 17 71% 47% to 87%
Sep 28 30 93% 79% to 98%
Oct 32 38 84% 70% to 93%
Nov 20 24 83% 64% to 93%
Dec 13 15 87% 62% to 96%

Peak flowering in Sep. Each bar is the share of Grona triflora 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. 245 of 285 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.

Where it actually grows measured, from 2,000 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 8.6 °C 13.8 °C 24.2 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 27.5 °C 30.3 °C 32.2 °C
Annual rainfall 1,107 mm 1,954 mm 3,397 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 49 mm 145 mm 545 mm

It is barely found anywhere that freezes. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 2,000 research-grade observations of Grona triflora that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one. Climate from CHELSA V2.1 (Karger et al. 2017); occurrences from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 36 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 triflora (L.) Poir.
  • Desmodium albiflorum Cordem.
  • Desmodium bullamense G.Don
  • Desmodium caespitosum Bojer
  • Desmodium granulatum (Schumach. & Thonn.) Walp.
  • Desmodium stipulaceum (Burm.f.) Hassk.
  • Desmodium stipulaceum Burm.f.
  • Desmodium triflorum (L.) DC.
  • Desmodium triflorum var. adpressum Ohwi
  • Desmodium triflorum var. minimus Stehlé
  • Desmodium triflorum var. minus Wight & Arn.
  • Desmodium triflorum var. pygmaeum Hoehne
  • Desmodium triflorum var. triflorum
  • Desmodium triflorum var. villosum Wight & Arn.
  • Hedysarum biflorum Willemet
  • Hedysarum granulatum Schumach. & Thonn.
  • Hedysarum granulatum Schum.
  • Hedysarum granuliferum Biehler
  • Hedysarum stipulaceum Burm.f.
  • Hedysarum triflorum L.
  • Hippocrepis humilis Blanco
  • Meibomia triflora (L.) Kuntze
  • Meibomia triflora f. coerulescens Kuntze
  • Meibomia triflora f. flavescens Kuntze

and 12 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. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol DETR4. 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.