Desmodium spp. - Trefoil

Trefoil, or Desmodium, consists of plants with trifoliate leaves and small pink or purple flowers. They are important for their role in soil improvement and as forage plants for livestock. Some species are also used in traditional medicine.

Inputs

• Hardiness zone 3¹
• Hardiness zone 4¹
• Hardiness zone 5¹
• Hardiness zone 6¹
• Full sun¹
• Semi-shade¹
• Well drained soil¹
• Moist soil¹

Type

• Herb
• Perennial

Functions

• Nitrogen fixer²
• Wildlife habitat¹

Footnotes

1. Desmodium canadense | Plants for a Future ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. Gaia’s Garden - A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition Table 6-3 ↩