Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Perennial with stems erect to prostrate, from woody base to 1 m tall, the stems much branched and with puberulent to sparsely pilose stems, the stipules narrowly to broadly ovate-lanceolate, asymmetrical at base. Leaves: Trifoliate leaves on petioles 2.5-5 cm long, sparsely puberulent and pilose, leaflets bright green with reticulate veins, leaflets ovate, elliptic, or broadly ovate-lanceolate 1-6 cm wide and 1.5-10 cm long, rounded at base, obtuse at apex. Flowers: In terminal or axillary racemes, simple or compound, corolla rose purple, drying greenish with banner 3.5-5 mm long. Fruits: Flat loments with several single seeded segments, indehiscent, 3-6 jointed, 2.5-5 cm long, the joints elliptic-rhomboidal, 3-5 mm wide, 6-10 mm long, reticulate to glabrate. Ecology: Found on hillsides along streams and in canyons, often found in disturbed areas from 3,000-5,000 ft (914-1524 m), flowers July-October. Distribution: Ranges east into the Chihuahuan desert into Tamaulipas and south into Sonora to the very southern edges of the Sonoran Desert. Notes: Distinguished by the segments being equally notched, the segments not revolute, with the loment not appearing twisted, having little inconspicuous flowers, with wide ovate leaflets. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Desmodium is from the Greek desmos for chain, which is a reference to the jointed seed pods, while psilocarpum means with glabrous fruit. Synonyms: Meibomia psilocarpa Editor: SBuckley 2011