Desmodium canadense – Showy Tick-trefoil – 1-Quart

Showy in this case is relative. In New York, there are about a dozen different species of Desmodium.   Most go unnoticed but Showy Tick-trefoil puts on a pretty good flowering display, especially if you put a few plants together to form a colony. It’s an important plant for native bees – you’ll see bumblebees and other long-tongued bees gathering pollen (no nectar is provided). A number of butterflies feed on the foliage including the Northern Cloudywing, Southern Cloudywing, Eastern Tailed Blue and Gray Hairstreak. Trefoil is an old European name for many plants in the pea family. Seeds often stick to clothing – hence “Tick” in the common name.