Desmodium canadense - Showy Tick Trefoil - 3" Pot

Showy tick trefoil is an upright, bushy perennial that is highly adaptable to a range of conditions, but prefers full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soils. Its deep taproot makes it extremely resistant to drought. Its slender stems are adorned with attractive, three-part foliage and hold hundreds of pink pea flowers in loose clusters for roughly three weeks during the summer.

These flowers are loved by a number of pollinators including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. The flowers develop into seed pods that are eaten by gambirds and rodents and, covered in velcro-like hairs, will stick to your clothes. The foliage is also eaten by many mammalian herbivores. Moreover, showy tick trefoil is a larval host plant for butterfly species such as the Eastern tailed blue, the silver-spotted skipper, and the hoary edge. As a member of the legume family, this species harbors beneficial bacteria in its roots that allow it to fix nitrogen into the soil, improving soil quality.