Desmodium canadense (Showy Tick-trefoil)

Desmodium canadense, commonly referred to as showy tick-trefoil, is a tall, perennial wildflower that lives up to its name with strikingly showy pink-purple flowers that bloom from summer into early fall, with the best shows coming from large colonies of plants planted together. Individual plants can grow to between two and six feet tall, with rose-colored blooms appearing throughout the entire upper half, and swaying beautiful in the breeze.

Flowers are highly attractive to native birds, bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, and plants also play host to larval butterflies and moths like the silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus) which is found throughout all of Maryland. Noted for their versatility, Desmodium canadense is almost entirely indifferent to soil type, acidity, and moisture, and can thrive in a variety of locations, so long as it's provided with full sun. Seeds are easily dispersed by mammals, adding to the plant's ability to spread, due to the seedpod's small, Velcro-like hairs.