Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Desmodium triflorum - Three-Flower Beggarweed

Edible Portion: Leaves, Leaves - Tea

A prostrate herb which forms mats. It can re-grow each year or continue growing from year to year. The plant can be 10-20 cm tall. The stems are 8-20 cm long. The stems are much branched and covered with yellow-brown hairs. The plant can form roots at the nodes of the stem. The leaves have 3 leaflets. These are oblong and 0.4-1.4 cm long by 0.4-1.2 cm wide. They can be hairy underneath. The leaf stalk is 0.4-1.1 cm long. There are normally 1-3 flowers in the axils of leaves. They are about 5 mm long. The petals are blue, purple or red. The fruit is a pod 1.2-1.8 cm long and with 2-5 segments. These are like a half circle in shape. One edge of the pod is indented.