Desmodium canadense (L.) DC.
Showy tick trefoil
The “tick” in showy tick trefoil refers to this plant’s seed pods, which have an uncanny knack for leaping onto clothing and staying there. These plants are North American natives.
Plants: Up to 3′ (91 cm) tall, usually erect, sometimes canted at angles or lying along the ground. Stems are covered with fine white hairs, and have long vertical striations.
Leaves: Roughly oval in shape, often wider near the base, and 1½–3½ ⨉ ½–1¾″ (3.8–8.9 ⨉ 1.3–4.6 cm) in size. They often occur in groups of three.
Flowers: Panicles up to 8″ (20 cm) long, with pink flowers each about ½–¾″ (1.3–1.9 cm) long. Each flower consists of an upward-pointing petal and a downward-pointing pouch-shaped petal.
Fruits: Seedpods loosely resemble peas, and are up to 2½″ (6.3 cm) long, consisting of several light green segments, each shaped like the letter ‘D’. The pods have velcro-like hairs that adhere to passing animals and amateur botanists.
Habitats: Moist to mesic black soil prairies, moist meadows along rivers, borders of lakes, thickets, limestone glades.
Online References:
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Some similar species. |
Meibomia canadensis (L.) Kuntze
8/30/2010 · Old RR bed near Wilkins Farm, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 11″ (18 × 27 cm) 
8/11/2012 · Tom and Susan’s, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (14 × 10 cm) 
Hitchhiking seedpods. · 8/30/2010 · Old RR bed near Wilkins Farm, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 3″ (11 × 8.2 cm) 
8/14/2009 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 14 × 9″ (35 × 23 cm) 
7/29/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (11 × 17 cm) 
7/25/2025 · River Point Conservation Area, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 4 × 2½″ (10 × 7.2 cm) 
8/14/2009 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 5″ (17 × 13 cm) 
8/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 4½″ (11 × 12 cm) 
9/4/2017 · Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 3″ (12 × 8.5 cm) 
7/25/2025 · River Point Conservation Area, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 4 × 2½″ (10 × 7.2 cm) 
8/13/2010 · Old RR bed near Wilkins Farm, Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 13″ (21 × 31 cm) 
7/29/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm) 
Leaf damage caused by locust digitate leaf miner (Parectopa robiniella) · 9/24/2012 · Squannacook River Wildlife Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 4″ (11 × 10 cm) 
8/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 7″ (13 × 18 cm) 
7/25/2025 · River Point Conservation Area, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 8 × 11″ (19 × 28 cm) 
7/12/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (23 × 15 cm) 
7/29/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 6″ (18 × 14 cm) 
7/29/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm) 
9/4/2017 · Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm) 
7/25/2025 · River Point Conservation Area, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 8 × 6″ (21 × 14 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Fabales | Legumes (pea and bean families) |
| Family | Fabaceae | Legume family (peas and beans) |
| Genus | Desmodium | Fromthe Greek desmos, “bond, fetter, halter, or chain” |
| Species | canadense | “Of or from Canada” |
Desmodium canadense description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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