Silver-leaf Desmodium
Spanish Clover
Desmodium uncinatum
Observed in an agricultural area near Kitale, Kenya. December 2012.
FLOWERS: Small, delicate pink flowers are typical pea-flowers. Spikes of
a dozen or so flowers occur on lateral branches.
ANNUAL or PERENNIAL: Herbaceous plant often recumbent over other nearby
vegetation sometime pushing two meters in height/length.
LEAVES: Leaves are compound, with three leaflets. The central portion of
each leaflet is pale, silvery. The surface is often covered with short hairs.
RANGE: This non-native plant has become a weed in many disturbed habitats and is
planted for forage and nitrogen fixing. It is native to South America. Several
species and hybrids of Desmodium are likely to be found through Kenya.
FRUIT: The long, curved, slender pods are constricted between each bean.
The pods are covered with hooked, sticky hairs can affix the mature pod to
clothing or fur thereby dispersing the seeds.
UNARMED. No thorns.