Desmodium incanum DC.

Global description
 
Desmodium incanum is a prostrate or erect plant, 30 to 150 cm high. The twigs have long straight hairs and tiny hairs ending in hook. The leaves are alternate, composite with 3 elliptical leaflets, the central longer that the laterals, whitish gray on the underside and marbled with silver spots above. The flowers are blue, red or purple, arranged along a terminal inflorescence. The fruits are pods, 2 to 4 cm long, composed of 5 to 8 rounded articles, covered with hooked hairs.
 
Cotyledons
 
The cotyledons are oval and slightly emarginate, fleshy, shortly stalked.
 
First leaves
 
The first leaves are alternate, petiolate with oval stipules at the base. The very first leaves are simple and then become compound with three leaflets. The leaflets are elliptic oblong, the petiole of the terminal leaflet are longer than the laterals. Often adorned with a silver white spot along the midrib.
 
General habit
 
Herbaceous plant with erect or prostrate habit, reaching up to 1.50 m high.
 
Underground system
 
The plant has a taproot system.
 
Stem
 
The stem is cylindrical to angular pentagonal, full. The branches carry a pubescence made up of small hooked hairs and longer straight hairs.
 
Leaf
 
The leaves are alternate, compound, trifoliate. They are held by a pubescent petiole of 15-30 mm. The stipules are persistent, lanceolate, 4 to 8 mm long, ribbed, fused together halfway up the side opposite the petiole. The terminal leaflets are petiolate. Each leaflet is held by a short petiolule (2 mm), with two linear stipels of 3 to 4 mm long at its base. The leaflets are usually elliptical and slightly obovate and sometimes oval. They may be rounded or wedged shape at the top and at the base. They measure 3 to 9 cm long and 1 to 4.5 cm wide. The terminal leaflet is larger than the lateral. The upper side generally has a median strip more or less silver, it is weakly pubescent with hooked and scattered short hairs. The underside is greyish green, with straight, more or less applied hairs, quite dense.
 
Inflorescence
 
The inflorescence consists of terminal or axillary clusters, 6 to 20 cm long. Flowers solitary or in groups of 2 or 3.
 
Flower
 
The calyx of the flower, 2 to 4 mm, is divided up to half in acuminate triangular lobes, finely pubescent. The corolla is blue, red or purple, 5 to 6 mm long, with veined petals. The stamens are fused into a beam of 9 stamens forming a sleeve under the ovary, with 1 free stamen above the ovary. Style form an angle at the end of the ovary.
 
Fruit
 
The fruit is a pod, 2 to 4 cm long, almost straight from the upper side and deeply indented in 5 to 8 articles, rounded on the lower side, indehiscent and each containing a seed. Pod covered with hooked hairs. Isthmus separates the articles at about 1/3 of the width of the article.
 
Seed
 
The seed is kidney-shaped to sub-elliptical, 3 mm long and 1.5 mm wide. Seed coat smooth and shiny, red to brown in color.

Origin

Desmodium incanum is native to Central and South America.

Worldwide distribution

This species is present in western, central and southern Africa, the Indian Ocean and Oceania.

https://www.gbif.org/species/2967060