Desmodium tortuosum

Common Names

Dixie Tick-Trefoil, Beggarweed, Florida Beggarweed, Giant Beggarweed, Twisted Tick Trefoil

Summary

Florida beggarweed is a tropical American legume native to the Americas and widely introduced and naturalised in tropical regions. It is an erect perennial herb or subshrub up to 1.5 m tall with green to purple stems pubescent with hooked hairs, and three-foliate leaves. Inflorescences are terminal and axillary, up to 30 cm long, bearing blue-mauve or pink papilionaceous flowers; fruit is a segmented legume that forms pods up to 3.2 cm long, glandular hairy and often twisted at constrictions.

Cultivation and uses: widely cultivated as a nitrogen-enricher and hence naturalised in tropical regions; used as animal fodder, forage, or green manure. It commonly inhabits roadsides, railways, cultivated land, and disturbed areas; it can be invasive in some regions and is a major weed of row crops.

Lifecycle

Annual and Perennial

Height

4-8 feet

Spread

1.5-2.5 feet

Hardiness Zones

Zones 9

Sunlight Requirements

Ideally full sun.

Soil Type

Sandy, well-draining soil.

Soil Drainage

Well-drained soil that does not waterlog.

Soil pH

6–7.5

Bloom Color

Blue to violet, including blue-mauve, pink, blue-green, lavender, and purple

Bloom Time

Summer and Fall

Foliage Color

Green

Growth Rate

1.6 cm/day

Seasons of Interest

Spring, Summer, Fall

Propagation Methods

Seeds, Cuttings, Division, Root cuttings

Attracts Wildlife

Attracts wildlife including birds; pollinators: insects