Desmodium elegans DC.

Habit

Shrub or small tree.

Family Description

Trees, shrubs or herbs, sometimes twinging or climbing. Leaves althernate, sometimes simple but usually with few to many leaflets arranged trifoliately, pinnately, bipinnately or digitately; stipules usually present. Flowers zygomorphic and bisexual, or actinomorphic and osmetimes polygamous; infloresence often terminal, axillary or supra axillary. Calyx campanulate or tubular, 5-toothed, the posterior pair of teeth often ± connate. Petals mostly 5 or sometimes fewer, free or some or all connate, equal or unequal. Stamens commonly 10, rarely only 3 or 7 fetile and fully developed sometimes numerous; filaments variously untied, rarely free. Ovary monocarpellate, superior, unilocular or sometimes falsely plurilocular, ovules one or more borne on posterior suture; style simple, filiform or capitate, al. Fryit a pod (legume), valves usually dry rarely fleshy, usually dehiscent along both sutures or breaking transversely into 1-seeded segments, or indehicent. Seeds often pea- or bean-like, rarely conspicuously arrilate.
Leaves simple or with 2 to many leaflets arranged digitately or more commonly, pinnately. Flowers zygomorphic, small or large. Calyx often somewhat unequal, 4-5-toothed, the upper (posterior) 2 ± connate. Petals usually 5, the uppermost (standard) generally longer than the others, the 2 lateral petals (wings) usually parallel to each other and the 2 lowest often partially connate to form the keel to which the wings often adhere. Stamens usually 10, filaments free or more usually variously united: monadelphous with all 10 connate into a tube, or diadelphous where 9 are connate into a split tube and one (posterior) free or more rarely, where the filaments are united in two bundles of 5. Style usually upwardly curved, hooked or sometimes coiled.

Genus Description

Perennial herbs, shurbs or trees. leaves pinnately 3-foliate, sometimes 1-foliate, margins entire or undulate, stipels usually conspicious, stipules persistent or deciduous. Flowers in axilluary or terminal racemes, panicles, cylax tube short, teeth 5, upper 2 connate into a bidenate lip, lower lip 3 dentate. Petals clawed, wings adherent too keel. stamens monadelphous or diadelphous. pods compressed, ± constricted between seedds, dehiscent along lower suture or indehiscent and breaking up into 1 seeded segments

Species description

Shrub or small tree 1.5-4m. Leaves 3-foliate, leaflet ovate or broadly ellipitic, lateral ones some what smaller than the terminal, 3.5-8 x 2-6cm, acute, base rounded or cuneate, margine entire or undulate, finely sericeous especially beneath, petioles 2-9cm, stiples linear 1-4mm, stipules lanceolate, 4-10 x 1-3mm, decidudous. Racemes axillary or terminal sometimes from the axils of fallen leaves. Calyx 3-4mm,. Petals mauve or bright purple, 10-15mm, standard broadly ellipitic , 9-12mm broad, wings and keel oblong blade 10 x 4mm, pods oblong undulate along both sutures and dividing into 3-7 elliptic segments 7-10 x 4mm appressed pubescent.

Deothang, Thimphu, Punakha, Trongsa, Trashigang, upper Mo chu. 750-2450m.