Common name -Heenundupiyaliya Botanical name -Desmodium triflorum Family - Fabaceae Life cycle - Perennial
Morphology
A small prostrate annual or perennial legume with a woody taproot.
Strongly branched stems to 50 cm frequently rooting at the nodes to form a mat.
Trifoliate leaves with leaflets up to 12 mm long and 10 mm wide.
Inflorescence with a cluster of 1–3 pink to purple flowers in leaf axils.
Pods flat, segmented, 6–18 mm long and 2–3.5 mm wide with 3–5 articles, and covered with minute hooked hairs. Pods break up into segments when ripe.
Seed quadrangular to orbicular ca. 1.2 x 1.7 mm.
Propagation
Propagation is mainly by seeds & cuttings.
Agricultural usage/ importance
A naturalized component of short (grazed) native and sown pastures, where it can form up to 50% of the herbage. Creeping mat can provide good ground cover during the wet season, especially in mown or closely cut uses such as under plantation crops and in lawns.
Given to children to treat diarrhea due to indigestion and also in convulsions. Expressed juice from a well macerated plant, is applied to abscesses and wounds that do not heal readity.
Control method
Pre-emergence prometryne alone or with simazine, alachlor plus 2, 4-D, diuron or fluometuron plus surfactant (seedlings). Foliar treatment with 2, 4-D or 2, 4, 5-T should be effective.
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