Desmodium uncinatum

(Jacq.) DC.

Fabaceae Edible: Leaves, Pods 2,107 iNaturalist observations

environmental engineeringfodder

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Summary

Desmodium uncinatum, the silverleaf desmodium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to Latin America, and introduced as a fodder to various locales in Africa, India, New Guinea, Australia and Hawaii. Although chiefly a fodder, it can also be used for pasture, deferred feed, cut-and-carry, hay, ground cover, and mulch. It is considered invasive in Australia and Hawaii. This species of Desmodium has also found use in the push-pull technology for pest management where it is grown as an intercrop between rows of a cereal crop to control stem-boring insects and fall armyworms. Together with D. intortum (greenleaf desmodium) they are the most common two intercrops of push-pull technology.

Description

A legume. It is a herb or small shrub. It has rhizomes 1.5 m long. The side leaves are 16-50 mm long by 10-33 mm wide. The fruit is triangle shaped and 5-7 mm long by 3-4 mm wide.

Edible Uses

None known.

Medicinal Uses

None known.

Distribution

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

Where It Grows

Argentina*, Asia, Brazil, Indonesia, Paraguay, SE Asia, South America, St Helena, Uruguay, West Papua,

Propagation

Seed germinates quickly in 3–4 days without scarification.

Other Uses

Grown in association with tussock and more open sward-forming grasses in permanent, semi-intensively managed pastures. Used for cut-and-carry, green or conserved feed, ground cover, and as an intercrop or mulch in cropping systems. Abundant leaf fall and runner decay build up a deep duff layer beneath the plants. Carbon Farming; Nitrogen Fixer; Fodder: pasture.