Pine-barren Tick-trefoil
Desmodium strictum
Found in longleaf pine sandhills, other dry woodlands. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 4 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- July to August
- Fruiting season
- August to October
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 14 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Who uses this plant?
26CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Desmodium
- Epargyreus clarusSilver-spotted Skipper
- Aristotelia roseosuffusellaPink-Washed Aristotelia
- Brenthia pavonacellaPeacock Brenthia Moth
- Caloptilia violacellaTick-Trefoil Caloptilia
- Cecropterus bathyllusSouthern Cloudywing
- Cecropterus dorantesDorantes Longtail, Lilac-Banded Longtail
- Cecropterus lyciadesHoary Edge
- Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
- Chloridea virescensTobacco Budworm Moth
- Coelostathma discopunctanaThe Batman Moth
Show all 26
- Cupido comyntasEastern Tailed-Blue
- Dasylophia anguinaBlack-Spotted Prominent
- Eurema dairaBarred Yellow, Barred Sulphur
- Exelastis pumilioDwarf Plume Moth
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
- Omiodes indicataBean-Leaf Webworm Moth
- Orphanostigma haemorrhoidalisLantana Leaftier
- Pyrrhia ciliscaAmerican Bordered Sallow, Noble Sun Moth
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Stenoptilodes taprobanesNarrow Plume Moth
- Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
- Triclonella pergandeellaSweetclover Root Borer, Bush-Clover Triclonella
- Urbanus proteusLong-Tailed Skipper, Bean Leaf Roller
- Porphyrosela desmodiella
15BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Desmodium
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
3BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Desmodium
- Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Flower color
- Pink, purple or violet
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- October
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Pink, purple or violet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “Up to about 4 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Pine barren Tick trefoil
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications