''Desmanthus'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily

Caesalpinioideae Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Its name is formed from the generic name ''Caesalpinia''. It is known also as the peacock flower subfamily. The Caesalpinioideae ...

of the

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

family,

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

. The name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

words δεσμός (''desmos''), meaning "bundle", and ἄνθος (''anthos''), meaning "flower". It contains about 24 species of

herbs In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

and

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s that are sometimes described as being suffruiticose and have

bipinnate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

leaves. ''Desmanthus'' is closely related to ''

Leucaena ''Leucaena'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the family Fabaceae. It contains about 24 species of trees and shrubs, which are commonly known as leadtrees. They are native to the Americas, ...

'' and in appearance is similar to '' Neptunia''. Like ''

Mimosa ''Mimosa'' is a genus of about 590 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word (''mimos''), an "actor" or "mime", and the feminine suffix -''osa'', "resembl ...

'' and ''Neptunia'', ''Desmanthus'' species fold their leaves in the evening. They are native to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Members of the genus are commonly known as bundleflowers. Donkey beans is another common name and originated in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, where ''Desmanthus'' species are highly regarded as

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...

for these domestic draught animals.

Description

There are considerable differences in the descriptions of ''Desmanthus'' in the literature (see Bogdan 1977; Skerman 1977; National Academy of Science 1979; Allen & Allen 1981; Reid 1983; Hacker 1990). For example, Reid (1983) says that ''Desmanthus virgatus'' ranges from "leggy" plants in the humid tropics to compact bushes in the semi-arid zones to prostrate in the montane zones; Allen and Allen (1981) state that ''Desmanthus'' grows to 3 metres; Hacker (1990) states that ''D. virgatus'' is an erect shrub 1.3 metres tall. All these views illustrate the great diversity and polymorphism within the genus and between species.

Phytochemistry

The root-bark of '' D. illinoensis'', which accounts for half of the total weight of the root system, is reported to contain anywhere from 0 to 0.34%

DMT ''N'',''N''-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT or ''N'',''N''-DMT, SPL026) is a substituted tryptamine that occurs in many plants and animals, including human beings, and which is both a derivative and a structural analog of tryptamine. It is used as a ...

and 0.11%

N-Methyltryptamine ''N''-Methyltryptamine (NMT) is a member of the substituted tryptamine chemical class and a natural product which is biosynthesized in the human body from tryptamine by certain N-methyltransferase enzymes, such as indolethylamine ''N''-methyltra ...

Alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

content is highly variable in this species. Likewise, root bark of '' Desmanthus leptolobus'' has been found to contain N,N-DMT and related tryptamines. While its only reported quantitative analysis was 0.14% (Appleseed), all instances of co-occurrence with ''D. illinoensis'' showed it to be noticeably stronger than ''D. illinoensis'', according to co-

thin layer chromatography Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is a chromatography technique used to separate non-volatile mixtures. Thin-layer chromatography is performed on a sheet of an inert substrate such as glass, plastic, or aluminium foil, which is coated with a t ...

of the root bark.Ayahuasca: alkaloids, plants & analogs: assembled by Keeper of the Trout
/ref>

Uses

During the 1990s in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, three species of ''Desmanthus'' were released as

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

legumes and many other accessions are being evaluated as pasture species for clay soils. The three old released

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s are: * ''

Desmanthus virgatus ''Desmanthus virgatus'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family that is known by many common names, including wild tantan, prostrate bundleflower, dwarf koa, desmanto, acacia courant, acacia savane, pompon blank,Francis, J. K., Ed'' ...

'' Cultivar "Marc"(Accession number: CPI 78373) which is described as early flowering, decumbent to ascending, growing 30 to 60 cm tall and originates from Argentina. * '' Desmanthus leptophyllus'' Cultivar "Bayamo" (CPI 82285), mid season flowering, ascending type, 95–135 cm tall, from Cuba * '' Desmanthus pubescens'' Cultivar "Uman" (CPI 92803), late flowering, decumbent shrub, taller and wider spreading than Marc, 40–100 cm tall, from Mexico. Of these three, only the cultivar Marc is still commercially available. In 2015 five new cultivars of Desmanthus named JCU 1 to JCU 5 have been granted PBR and are commercially available as a blend named "Progardes", consisting of '' D. bicornutus'', ''D. leptophyllus'' and ''D. virgatus'', these have been developed in Queensland Australia as a pasture legume for semi-arid tropical/subtropical alkaline clay soils. Progardes became available in 2013 in Northern Australia and some 35,000 to 50,000 ha has been already sown into native and buffelgrass pasture. In recent times additional cultivars have seen developed including cv JCU 6,7,8 and 9. These can also be included in the Progardes blend. The breeding of intraspecific and interspecific crosses are well advanced. In terms of animal production Progardes has been to shown to enhance beef production. In its native range in the United States, the

Land Institute The Land Institute is an American nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated fo ...

is selectively breeding the widely distributed Illinois bundleflower (''

Desmanthus illinoensis ''Desmanthus illinoensis'', commonly known as Illinois bundleflower, prairie-mimosa or prickleweed, is a common plant in many areas of the south central and Midwestern US. Habitat It can often be found growing on the sides of roads, needing fu ...

'') to be a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

seed crop for human food, in addition to forage / pasture. It offers many of the advantages in terms of nutrition,

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

and

nitrogen fixation Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular nitrogen (), with a strong triple covalent bond, in the air is converted into ammonia () or related nitrogenous compounds, typically in soil or aquatic systems but also in industry. Atmo ...

soybeans The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu and ...

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as w ...

, but as a perennial. Perennial crops tend to require less input of chemicals and energy, and less weed control, for comparable or higher yields to annuals in many systems.

Species

References

External links