FoI
Loose Flowered Desmodium
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Loose Flowered Desmodium
ative Photo: Gary Thingnam
Common name: Loose Flowered Desmodium • Manipuri: ꯄꯣꯔꯣꯡꯈꯣꯛ ꯃꯥꯟꯕꯤ Porongkhok Manbi • Marathi: आसूड asud, भूतशेवरा bhut-sheura, जंगली गांजा jangli-ganja • Tamil: Atotti • Malayalam: Orila • Telugu: Antunthalu, Cheppa Thatla • Kannada: ಒತ್ತೆ ಗಿಡ otte gida • Konkani: जंगली गांजा jangli ganja • Nepali: कुरो झार kuro jhar • Sanskrit: पार्ष्णीपर्णी parsniparn • Mizo: Chabetban
Botanical name: Sohmaea laxiflora    Family: Fabaceae (Pea family)
Synonyms: Desmodium laxiflorum, Hedysarum bicolor

Loose Flowered Desmodium is an undershrub, growing up to 60-150 cm tall. Flowers are born in racemes, 15-25 cm long, at the end of branches and in leaf axils. Bracts and bracteoles are linear, acute. Flower stalks are 5-7.5 mm long. Sepal cup is 2.5-3.0 mm long, bristly, teeth slightly exceeding the tube, can often be reddish. Flowers are 6-7 mm long, varying in color from violet to having white standard and blue wings and keel. Stem is woody, and is velvety when young. Leaves are divided into 3 leaflets. Leaf stalk is 2.0-7.5 cm long, the central leaflet is 7.0-15 cm long, 3.0-7.0 cm broad, other two are smaller. Leaflets are ovate, elliptic or broadly lance-shaped, narrow tipped or nearly blunt. Fruit is 2.5-4.5 cm long, 6-10-jointed. Loose Flowered Desmodium is found in South Asia, Western Ghats, Nepal, NE India to China and SE Asia, at altitudes of 200-2400 m. Flowering: August-October.

Identification credit: Dinesh Valke, Saroj Kasaju Photographed at Langol, Manipur & Yeoor Hills, Thane, Maharashtra.

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