Desmodium canadense is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is native to eastern North America. Its common names include showy tick-trefoil, Canadian tick-trefoil, and Canada tickclover.Desmodium canadense. Integrated Taxonomic Information System. The plant is a perennial herb and grows in woods, prairies, and disturbed habitat, such as roadsides. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant. It is a larval host plant for butterflies such as the eastern tailed-blue, silver-spotted skipper, and hoary edge. The plant attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.Desmodium canadense. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. University of Texas, Austin. Flowers are pea-shaped, pink to purple in color, and bloom between July to September.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
⚠ sources differ — GIFT: herb · TRY: Herbaceous perennial
Mycorrhiza typenon-ectomycorrhizal
Woodinessnon-woody
Physiology & chemistry7
Leaf C:N ratio54.6 g/g
Leaf c454 mg/g
Leaf dry-matter content (LDMC)304 mg/g
Leaf n27.67 mg/g
Leaf p1.4 mg/g
Photosynthetic pathwayC3
Specific leaf area (SLA)22.18 mm²/mg
03Chemical composition34 compounds
Compounds documented for Desmodium canadense across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Desmodium canadense has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens15
Marker genes8
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections6
Countries2
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manualDesmodium canadense carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Genome size444 990 000 bp
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
BACTERIUM Carsonella ruddii0.00016 Gb
FUNGUS0.04 Gb
INSECT0.25 Gb
THIS GENOME Desmodium canadense0.44 Gb
HUMAN3.2 Gb
WHEAT17 Gb
FERN Tmesipteris160.45 Gb
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Chromosome-count records — grouped by value · 2n = full set, n = gamete · click a value for sources & references
2n 223×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · book-ipcn75-78
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — Love, A. & D. Love. 1982. In: A Löve (ed.), IOPB chromosome number reports LXXV. Taxon 31(2): 344–360.
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — Kondo, K., R. Tanaka & M. SEGAWA. 1977. Intraspecific variation of karyotypes in some species of Lespedeza and Desmodium. Kromosomo, II 5: 123–137.
CCDB · book-ipcn75-78 — Kondo et al. 1977
Ploidy records — measured levels and diploid/polyploid inferences · click for sources
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy90% within 1 km
≤100 m 3 911≤1 km 789≤10 km 255>10 km 274
5 229 georeferenced · 1 183 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor6 412
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy37% within 1 km
≤100 m 70≤1 km 448≤10 km 784>10 km 105
1 407 georeferenced · 616 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence2 023
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Coordinate accuracy0% within 1 km
≤10 km 1
1 georeferenced · 3 without coordinates
Open the mapnot free-living4
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions69 of 100 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Philadelphia, US
271
Madison, US
251
St. Paul, US
188
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
132
Bloomington, US
83
Wuzhou, CN
83
Bronx, US
79
Québec, CA
68
Ann Arbor, US
61
University of New Hampshirelocation not on record
56
Burlington, US
48
New Haven, US
43
Chadron, US
36
Allentown, US
36
Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record
35
Saint John, CA
31
Toronto, CA
30
Montréal, CA
28
Green Bay, US
27
Davenport, US
22
Saint Louis, US
19
Dekalb, US
15
Bangkok, TH
15
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
13
Université Lavallocation not on record
13
Lincoln, US
13
LDlocation not on record
12
Acadia Universitylocation not on record
11
Staten Island, US
11
Whitewater, US
10
Keene State Universitylocation not on record
9
Spearfish, US
8
WINlocation not on record
7
DOI/NPS, Greenbelt Parklocation not on record
6
McWane Science Centerlocation not on record
6
Kirksville, US
6
College Park, US
6
University of Guelph, OAC Herbariumlocation not on record
6
Emporia, US
5
Science Museum of Minnesotalocation not on record
5
US
5
Columbia, US
4
Chicago, US
4
Millersville, US
4
Royal Botanical Gardenslocation not on record
4
Mississippi State, US
4
Denver, US
4
Philadelphia, US
3
ASUlocation not on record
3
Museum of the Rockieslocation not on record
3
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
3
Washington, US
3
Chicago, US
3
New Brunswick, US
3
Pittsburg, US
3
Paris, FR
2
Kew, GB
2
Hudson, US
2
Durham, US
2
Mlocation not on record
2
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
2
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
2
Jackson, US
2
Brookings, US
2
Kingston, US
2
Provo, US
2
Flagstaff, US
2
Waverly, US
2
Beijing, CN
2
Wlocation not on record
2
Fort Worth, US
2
Porto Alegre, BR
1
South Kensington, GB
1
Istituto Agrario Castelnuovolocation not on record
1
University of Alberta Museumslocation not on record
1
Montréal, CA
1
Moscow State Universitylocation not on record
1
Edmonton, CA
1
Clemson, US
1
Jefferson City, US
1
Oswego, US
1
Turlock, US
1
DULlocation not on record
1
Berlin, DE
1
University of Wisconsinlocation not on record
1
FLASlocation not on record
1
McGill University, Herbariumlocation not on record
1
Lubbock, US
1
San Sebastián, ES
1
Pullman, US
1
Northridge, US
1
Phoenix, US
1
Logan, US
1
Wellington, NZ
1
PHlocation not on record
1
Boise, US
1
Macomb, US
1
Institut und Museum fuer Geologie und Palaeontologielocation not on record
1
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record
1
Chapel Hill, US
1
100 institutions · 1 918 of 2 023 vouchered records shown · 105 without an institution code
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
09Environmental DNA6 detections
Where the DNA of Desmodium canadense was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found6
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 6 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median20.2 °C 19.4–21.8
Seasonal swing summer↔winter27.1 °C
Max temp (day)25.2 °C 24.4–26.0
Min temp (night)16.1 °C 15.5–18.6
Precipitation90.2 mm/mo 82.4–105
Air humidity59.0 % 57.8–59.8
Moisture balance-49.1 mm/mo -71.5–-32.2
Vapour deficit981 Pa 910–1,090
Wind speed3.20 m/s 2.80–3.30
Cloud cover40.3 % 38.1–44.9
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 6 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation2 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility8 453 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI6 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics15 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗