Silverleaf desmodium. Spanish tick-clover
Desmodium uncinatum

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

Sown in permanent grazing pastures but also used for cut-and-carry, for green or conserved feed, for ground cover and in cropping for intercropping and mulch. As a carbon farming solutions plant it can be used in agroforestry for nitrogen, as an understory legume.

Desmodium uncinatum is an evergreen Perennial growing to 2 m (6ft) by 0.2 m (0ft 8in) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. It can fix Nitrogen. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers dry moist or wet soil and can tolerate drought.

Height (m): 2

Where it is found

It is a subtropical plant. In Argentina it grows from sea level to 1,000 m above sea level.

Americas.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Native to South America (i.e. Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, northern Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay). Naturalised in many parts of eastern Australia (i.e. in south-eastern and northern Queensland and in the coastal districts of northern and central New South Wales). Now locally naturalised elsewhere in the highland tropics and humid subtropics.

How it is used

Food

Rating: 0

Medicine

Rating: 0

Other

Rating: 3

Grown in association with tussock and more open sward-forming grasses in permanent, semi-intensively managed pastures. Sown in permanent grazing pastures but also used for cut-and-carry, for green or conserved feed, for ground cover and in cropping for intercropping and mulch. Abundant leaf fall and runner decay provide a deep duff layer under the plants. Carbon Farming Solutions - Agroforestry Services: nitrogen, understory legume (Agroforestry is a land use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland). Fodder: pasture.

Fodder: Food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them) rather than forage for themselves.

Agroforestry Services: Nitrogen: Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include the legume family – Fabaceae.

Agroforestry Services: Understory legume: Legume vegetation, especially the trees and shrubs growing between the forest canopy and the forest floor.

Fodder: Pasture: Enclosed tracts of farmland mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs (non-grass herbaceous plants).

Management: Fodder: Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Minor Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world, but on a smaller scale than the global perennial staple and industrial crops, The annual value of a minor global crop is under $1 billion US. Examples include shea, carob, Brazil nuts and fibers such as ramie and sisal.

Agroforestry Services: Nitrogen: Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include the legume family – Fabaceae.

Agroforestry Services: Understory legume: Legume vegetation, especially the trees and shrubs growing between the forest canopy and the forest floor.

Fodder: Pasture: Enclosed tracts of farmland mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs (non-grass herbaceous plants).

Management: Fodder: Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Minor Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world, but on a smaller scale than the global perennial staple and industrial crops, The annual value of a minor global crop is under $1 billion US. Examples include shea, carob, Brazil nuts and fibers such as ramie and sisal.

Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.

How it is grown

Climate: tropical. Humidity: humid. Generally grows best on lighter and more friable soils of moderate fertility, but not on heavy clays. It is more tolerant of low pH, high Al and Mn than ‘Greenleaf’ (D. intortum ) but cannot stand salinity. More tolerant of poor drainage and high water tables than ‘Greenleaf’. Prefers rainfall exceeding 1,000mm with good distribution throughout the year . Although not productive during the dry season, it will persist in regions with dry seasons of 3 months. It can persist in areas with rainfall as low as 850 mm and as high as 2,400 mm. With its stronger taproot, D. uncinatum proved decidedly more drought tolerant than D. intortum . It will grow in wet soils and tolerate short term flooding. It is a warm season plant but with good tolerance of cooler conditions. Peaks of growth occur in spring and autumn with a slight depression in the heat of mid-summer. Generally grown at moderate altitudes (to 2,000 m) in the tropics and lower altitudes in the subtropics. It is one of the most cool-tolerant tropical legumes although leaves are damaged or killed by frost. It is moderately tolerant of shaded conditions . Carbon Farming Solutions - Cultivation: minor global crop. Management: fodder (Describes the non-destructive management systems that are used in cultivation).

Propagating it: Seed germinates quickly (3-4 days) without scarification.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Perennial

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Fast

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: Semi-shade, no shade

Moisture: Dry, moist, wet

Things to keep in mind

Desmodium uncinatum was introduced as a fodder crop and has now become a weed of creekbanks (i.e. riparian areas), roadsides, fencelines, forest margins, disturbed sites, waste areas and plantation crops (e.g. sugarcane). It is regarded as an important environmental weed in south-eastern Queensland, and was recently ranked among the top 100 invasive plants species in the region. It is also regarded as an environmental weed in the New South Wales North Coast region. It spreads into forest margins and along creeks where it trails over shrubs and groundcovers, but it does not climb into trees. It has also been reported to ensnare and kill native wildlife (e.g. frogs, birds, lizards and microbats) that easily become stuck to its stems and fruit.

Its other names

Local names

Silverleaf desmodium, Spanish clover, Spanish tick-clover, Tick clover, Velcro plant, Desmodium, Silver leaf desmodium, Silverleaf, silver-leaved desmodium, Spanish tickclover, Velcro vine, Velcro weed, Spanischer Klee (German); Desmodio plateado (Spanish); Pega pega (Spanish).

Synonyms

Desmodium uncinatum var. gracile Burkart. Desmodium uncinatum var. uncinatum. Hedysarum uncinatum Jacq. Meibomia uncinata (Jacq.) Kuntze