''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
''Desmanthus virgatus''.
Wildland Shrubs of the United States and its Territories - Thamnic Descriptions. USDA Forest Service. International Institute of Tropical Forestry and Shrub Sciences Laboratory. adormidera, brusca prieta, frijolillo, ground tamarind, guajillo, guashillo, huarangillo, langalet, petit acacia, petit cassie, petit mimosa, virgate mimosa,Cook, B.G., et al. 2005

''Tropical Forages: An Interactive Selection Tool.'' and slender mimosa,
USDA Forest Service. Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER). as well as simply desmanthus. It is native to the American tropics and subtropics but is present elsewhere as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

. In some areas it is cultivated as a

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 ...

and

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used m ...

crop.

Description

This plant is a woody perennial herb or

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 ...

growing up to 1.5, 2, or even 3 meters tall. Its herbage dies back to the woody

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

during dry conditions and sprouts up again when adequate moisture is available. One plant can grow up to 50 stems, becoming quite robust. The older stems are brown to red in color and are shiny and hairless. The leaves are bipinnate, divided into a few pairs of leaflets which are each subdivided into smaller leaflets that measure up to 7 to 9 millimeters long. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a head of up to 11Heuzé V., Tran G., Sauvant D., Bastianelli D., 2015. Dwarf koa (Desmanthus virgatus). Feedipedia, a programme by INRA, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. https://www.feedipedia.org/node/307 Last updated on May 11, 2015, 14:31 to 22 flowers. The plant bears perfect, male, and sterile flowers. The flowers are white to yellowish. A short stalk bears up to 11 legume fruit pods which are linear in shape, dark red to blackish in color, and up to 8.5 or 9 centimeters long. They

dehisce Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part; structures that op ...

along each edge to release up to 26 to 30 seeds each. Flowers and fruits are produced year-round in tropical locales with enough water. Outside the tropics it reproduces mainly in spring and summer.

Habitat and range

This plant grows in open habitat types. It easily colonizes disturbed habitat such as roadsides and

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

. It grows in clay and sandy soil types. It is most common at lower

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

s. Its habit of dying back to the root crown helps it to withstand drought, frost, fire, and grazing. It resprouts when conditions are less harsh. It cannot tolerate shade, however, and it does not thrive under a tree canopy. This species is native to the southern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, parts of

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 ...

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. ...

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 ...

, and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and has been introduced outside its native range purposely and accidentally. In the United States it is considered to be native to Texas, but it also grows in Florida, where it may or may not be native. It was first reported in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

in 2011 when it was discovered sprouting in a vacant lot in

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

. It is naturalized in several African countries, such as

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, as well as

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

such as

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, plus

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and

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 ...

. It is considered to be a

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

in many places.''Desmanthus virgatus''.
HEAR Global Compendium of Weeds.

Uses

Prostrate bundleflower is palatable to livestock and non-toxic, and it contains ample protein. It has been found to put weight on cows.Sukkasame, P. and C. Phaikaew. (1998)
Utilization of ''Desmanthus virgatus'' as protein supplement for fattening cattle in southern Thailand.
''Integrated Crop-Livestock Production Systems and Fodder Trees''. 157. While it makes a good food plant for cattle, it is not as promising a feed for pigs.Ly, J. and P. Samkol. (2001)

''Livestock Research for Rural Development'' 13(4). The plant appears to help control

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

and fixes nitrogen, improving the soil. It may be cut for fodder or grown in a field, as it is very tolerant of grazing. The action of grazing animals actually stimulates the plant and more seedlings survive under the pressure of grazing.Burrows, D. M. and F. J. Porter. (1993)
Regeneration and survival of ''Desmanthus virgatus'' 78382 in grazed and ungrazed pastures.
''Tropical Grasslands'' 27 100-107. Livestock, such as sheep, help disperse the plant's seeds throughout the rangeland, as they survive passage through the gut.Gardiner, C., et al. (2012)
The germination, passage and viability of ''Desmanthus virgatus'' (L.) Willdenow seed through sheep and its implication for dispersal in tropical rangelands.
Proceedings of 16th Australian Society of Agronomy Conference. Capturing Opportunities and Overcoming Obstacles in Australian Agronomy. 1-4. Several

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 have been commercially released, including 'Marc' and 'Balli Germplasm'.

Classification

''Desmanthus virgata'' is sometimes considered to be a

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

that includes '' Desmanthus acuminatus'', '' D. paspalaceus'', and '' D. tatuhyensis''. Until recently, many authors grouped several other ''Desmanthus'' under the

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: *Circumscribed circle *Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) * Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthrop ...

of ''D. virgata'', including '' D. pubescens'', '' D. pernambucanus'', '' D. glandulosus'' and '' D. leptophyllus''.

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q10916837 Mimosoids Plants described in 1806 Fodder Forages Flora of the Caribbean Flora of Central America Flora of Mexico Flora of South America Flora of Texas