| Desmodium intortum | |
|---|---|
| .jpg.webp) | |
| Flowerhead | |
| .jpg.webp) | |
| In Hawaii | |
| Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae | 
| Clade: | Tracheophytes | 
| Clade: | Angiosperms | 
| Clade: | Eudicots | 
| Clade: | Rosids | 
| Order: | Fabales | 
| Family: | Fabaceae | 
| Subfamily: | Faboideae | 
| Genus: | Desmodium | 
| Species: | D. intortum | 
| Binomial name | |
| Desmodium intortum | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| List 
 | |
Desmodium intortum, known as greenleaf desmodium and also as beggarlice along with other members of its genus, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Desmodium, native to Mexico, Central America, northern South America, the Galápagos, Haiti and Jamaica. A nitrogen-fixing fodder crop, it has been introduced to the rest of the world's tropics, including Africa, India, Australia, New Guinea and Taiwan[2]
Desmodium intortum is used in push–pull agricultural pest management since it contains potent secondary metabolites that are released into the soil and aerially. Inter-cropped in maize and sorghum fields, it repels Chilo partellus, a stem-boring grass moth, and suppresses witchweeds, including Asiatic witchweed (Striga asiatica) and purple witchweed (S. hermonthica).[3]
References
- ↑ Symb. Antill. 8: 292 (1920)
- 1 2 "Desmodium intortum L." Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
- ↑ "The Plant Encyclopedia - Desmodium". The Plant Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17 January 2014.