Desmodium nicaraguense Oerst., Fabaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Low risk, score: -2 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Meibomia nicaraguensis (Oerst.) Kuntze; Meibomia rensoni Painter

Common name(s): [more details]

Spanish: engorda-caballo, gutao, Juana de Arco, Juana Larga, pie de paloma, vara blanca, vara de arco, vara larga

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "An erect shrub of 1-3 meters, woody throughout or nearly so, the branches subterete, very densely uncinate-pilosulous with short white hairs, almost tomentose; stipules about 3 mm long, caducous; leaves petiolate, 3-foliate; leaflets usually rather thick, oblong-elliptic, mostly 5-7 cm long, obtuse or usually rounded at the apex, obtuse at the base, very densely pilose on both surfaces, especially beneath, with soft subappressed whitish hairs; inflorescence racemose-paniculate, often very large and much branched, the branches densely uncinate-pubescent, the flowers rose-purple, short-pedicellate; bracts small, lanceolate, caducous; calyx densely sericeous, small, the teeth short, obtuse; standard about 5 mm long; loment 6-8-articulate, borne on a short stipe, minutely sericeous, deeply crenate-lobate on both margins, the joints oval-orbicular, about 4 mm long and 3 mm broad, almost symmetric" (Standley and Steyermark, 1946; pp. 232-233).

Habitat/ecology:  "Wet to dry thickets or open rocky hillsides, often in pine or oak forest, 400-2,400 meters...  This shrub is abundant in many regions along the Pacific slope of Guatemala and Salvador, often forming dense thickets in pastures"  (Standley and Steyermark, 1946; pp. 232-233).

Propagation:  (no propagation information known by PIER)

Native range:  Western Mexico, Salvador to Nicaragua.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
American Samoa Tutuila Islands	Tutuila Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2000) (pp. 6, 12) Voucher: Flynn 6611 (PTBG)
American Samoa Tutuila Islands	Tutuila Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1999) (voucher ID: BISH 662829) Taxon name on voucher: Desmodium nicaraguense Oerst.
American Samoa Tutuila Islands	Tutuila Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1999) (voucher ID: PTBG 291) Taxon name on voucher: Desmodium nicaraguense

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Comments:  Planted on Tutuila, American Samoa, (under the name Desmodium rensonii) and showing signs of naturalizing.

Additional information:
Additional online information about Desmodium nicaraguense is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Desmodium nicaraguense as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Desmodium nicaraguense may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1999. Voucher specimen #BISH 662829 (Flynn, T.; collector's voucher number unknown).

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 1999. Voucher specimen #PTBG291(Tim Flynn 6611).

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2000. Observations on invasive plant species in American Samoa.  USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 51 pp.

Standley, Paul C./Steyermark, Julian A. 1946. Flora of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany. Vol. 24, Part V. Chicago Natural History Museum. 502 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.