Japanese name: シバハギ（芝萩） Scientific name:Desmodium heterocarpon
[Overview]
A subshrub found in somewhat dry places along roadsides and in vacant lots.
The stems branch well from the base and creep along the ground, with the tips rising upright.
The leaves are alternate and trifoliate; the leaflets are obovate to elliptic, 2.5–3 cm long, and the terminal leaflet is slightly larger than the lateral leaflets.
The stipules are lanceolate.
Sometimes simple leaves also appear.
Racemes 5–10 cm long emerge from the stem tips and leaf axils and bear dense reddish-purple pea-shaped flowers.
The axis of the inflorescence is densely covered with hooked hairs.
The fruit is a flat legume 1–2 cm long, constricted into 5–8 segments, with hooked hairs on its surface, and it is carried away by sticking to clothing and animals.
