Dollar leaf
By Ken Moore
Flora Columnist
Desmodium is the genus name for beggar lice, beggar tick, tick-trefoil and whatever common name you may prefer for these common plants in the bean (pea) family. There are many species, and they can be very challenging to identify.
Desmodium, from the Greek word “demos,†means band or chain, referring to the chain-like attachment of single flattened bean seeds, forming a very curious looking bean pod.
You may recall times when you have returned from a walk through local fields to discover your pants covered with tiny, flat, triangular-shaped seeds that cling tenaciously, as if covered with Velcro-like hooks.
One of these, Desmodium rotundifolium, will probably not find pants legs on which to hitch rides because it tends to slink along the ground and prefers forests and shaded field edges rather than wide-open areas. The species epithet, “rotundifolium,†is appropriate, as the meaning is “rotund†– round, “folium†– leaf. This roundleaf tick-trefoil is easy to spot with its three-compound (trifoliate) leaves of silver-dollar shaped leaflets. I like to use dollar leaf as a common name because it is so visually descriptive.
Though not a rare plant, one doesn’t frequently encounter it because it remains mostly unnoticed, spreading quietly along the ground. Durham resident and Citizen reader Parker Chesson forwarded me an image of the foliage early in the summer, wondering about the plant’s name.
I always love plants that are easy to identify, so I was happy to give Parker an immediate response without any head-scratching or having to go to my shelf of frequently used botanical references.
Realizing that I have never observed the flowers of dollar leaf and knowing that Parker is a fine photographer, my response included a challenge. Learning that Parker has a population of dollar leaf in the woods edge of one of the trails where he frequently accompanies his grandchildren on nature excursions, I asked him to capture some images of the flowers whenever they may occur during the season.
The season flew by and I was about ready to assume there were no flowers on Parker’s plants this year, when I received some flower images and a happy story. Parker said he routinely passes along his woodland path on his way to the veggie garden. Here at summer’s end, he had not been visiting the garden as frequently and had just about given up on spotting any flowers this year.
But one day two weeks ago, Parker was accompanied by his 5-year-old grandson, Cail Sullivan, who has learned from Parker how to take “a closer look.†Having run ahead, as is his habit, Cail surprised Parker when he came running back exclaiming: “Granddaddy, come look at this purple flower. You might want to take a picture of it.â€
And so it is that I have now finally seen an image of the dollar leaf flower, and Flora readers have young Cail to thank for discovering the flower that his granddaddy photographed to share with us.
There are always treasured surprises when we take the young ones along to help us see.
Email Ken Moore at flora@carrborocitizen.com. Find previous Ken Moore Citizen columns at The Annotated Flora (carrborocitizen.com/flora).
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