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''Desmodium'' is a genus in the flowering plant family Fabaceae, sometimes called tick-trefoil, tick clover, hitch hikers or beggar lice. There are dozens of species and the delimitation of the genus has shifted much over time. These are mostly inconspicuous legumes; few have bright or large flowers. Though some can become sizeable plants, most are herbs or small shrubs. Their fruit are loments, meaning each seed is dispersed individually enclosed in its segment. This makes them tenacious plants and some species are considered weeds in places. They have a variety of uses, as well. ==Uses== Several ''Desmodium'' species contain potent secondary metabolites. They are used aggressively in agriculture in push-pull technology. Tick-trefoils produce high amounts of antixenotic allomones - chemicals which repel many insect pests - and allelopathic compounds which kill weeds. For example, ''D. intortum'' and ''D. uncinatum'' are employed as groundcover in maize and sorghum fields to repel ''Chilo partellus'', a stem-boring grass moth. They also suppress witchweeds such as Asiatic witchweed (''Striga asiatica'') and purple witchweed (''S. hermonthica'').〔 Tick-trefoils are generally useful as living mulch and as green manure, as they are able to improve soil fertility via nitrogen fixation. Most also make good animal fodder.〔 Some ''Desmodium'' species have been shown to contain high amounts of tryptamine alkaloids, though many tryptamine-containing ''Desmodium'' species have been transferred to other genera.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.theplantencyclopedia.org/wiki/Desmodium )〕 The caterpillars of the Lesser Grass Blue (''Zizina otis'') and the Two-barred Flasher (''Astraptes fulgerator'') feed on tick-trefoils. Deer also appear to rely on some species in certain areas, particularly during the more stressful summer months. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Desmodium」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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