Noteworthy Characteristics
In Missouri, tick trefoil or Illinois tick trefoil is primarily found in prairies and glades (Steyermark). This is a leguminous perennial that, although somewhat weedy, produces showy flowers. It is a spindly plant (2-3’ but less frequently to 5’ tall) that features trifoliolate leaves and loose, slender, terminal inflorescences of white pea-like flowers atop unbranched hairy stems. Flowers bloom in summer. Lower surfaces of the leaflets are distinctively net-veined and covered with hooked hairs. Leaf stalks have prominent stipules at the bases. Flowers give way to flattened, 3- to 7-segmented pods covered by minute hooked hairs. When the pods ripen, the segments separate into one-seeded sections that cling to clothing in the manner as burs. Desmodiums are also sometimes commonly called beggar’s lice or beggarsweed.