Desmodium incanum

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The Desmodium incanum of many older sources is actually Desmodium laxiflorum; see below.

Desmodium incanum

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Subclass:	Rosidae
(unranked)	Eurosids I
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Tribe:	Desmodieae
Genus:	Desmodium
Species:	D. incanum

Binomial name

Desmodium incanum
DC.

Synonyms

Desmodium canum Schinz & Thell.

Creeping beggarweed or Spanish clover/Tick-trefoil is a perennial plant native to Central and South America. It is sometimes considered a weed, and has spread through Florida and across the southern USA into southern Texas and across many Pacific islands; for example on [[Hawaiʻi]] it is known as Kaimi clover or by the Hawaiian name kaʻimi ("The Seeker").

There has been long-standing confusion about the correct scientific name. This was long held to be Desmodium canum, and therefore for quite some time D. incanum was believed to be the correct name for the plant today called Desmodium laxiflorum.^[1]

Its has branched runners for reproduction. Its leaves are elliptic in shape and are hairy, and it's flowers are pink to rose in color. Very frustrating in agriculture are its seedpods. When ripe they easily break off from the plant and due to their tiny hairs they stick to any rough surface. The skin and hairs of an animal for example. Or the clothing of the person who walks through them. And every pod is to pulled out separately one by one afterwards.