Have you seen a Desmodium unifoliatum for sale anywhere in the US?

zanduh

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the flowers sold me. in for a 25 dollar material
 

Cable

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So, I'm one of those plant dorks that needs to know specifics about trees. The first thing I noticed when I tried to look up Desmodium unifoliatum was that Wigert's lists it as Desmodium unifoliatium. If you try to search for that on Google, it substitutes the original spelling. Add to that the fact that if you do force the search for unifoliatium you only get 162 results instead of 39,300 and I'm reasonably sure Wigert's is spelling it wrong.

But wait, there's more!

Look it up on Wikipedia and neither spelling exists for Desmodium. Curious.

I did some more digging and found that "Desmodium glutinosum f. unifoliolatum... is the accepted name of an infraspecific taxon of the species Desmodium glutinosum (Willd.) Alph.Wood". Fascinating but that name only yields 1,060 results so it looks like unifoliolatum is technically the correct name but most people are still using the accepted synonym unifoliatum.

Still, there doesn't seem to be a ton of info out there about this particular species, even though Desmodium itself is quite widespread with a lot of varieties. There's even one native to Ohio!

Edit: unless you search for "Vietnamese Blue Bell Tree", then you get over 5 million. lol
 
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Mycin

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Just bought one of Wigert's $25 jobbers. Closer to $50 after shipping but I am highly intrigued by this tree that I didn't know existed ten minutes ago. Thanks a lot, BNutters. :p

yes, I too am eyeing this one. I’ll TRY to wait until spring though:D
 

Forsoothe!

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Scant info in both of my garden encyclopedias, and nothing under or answering the description of unifoliatum.
 

Cable

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I got a lot of flowers in several flushes this year (and lots of seed pods set, too!)...
View attachment 327562
The color is washed out here (as wet) and is much nicer baby blue in reality.

I watched the Wigert's video on these and see that the branches are very bendy, and the trunks are, too, on young ones. How about the trunk on yours? Did you put any movement into it? Can't tell for sure in this pic but it looks like you did.
 

roberthu

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I got a lot of flowers in several flushes this year (and lots of seed pods set, too!)...
The color is washed out here (as wet) and is much nicer baby blue in reality.
Thank you for sharing!
Hope I get some flowers next year.
 

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Forsoothe!

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I watched the Wigert's video on these and see that the branches are very bendy, and the trunks are, too, on young ones. How about the trunk on yours? Did you put any movement into it? Can't tell for sure in this pic but it looks like you did.
No really much movement in the trunk. All I have done is set the clouds. I would be happy with a short formal upright...
Du 2019_1019History0002.JPG
 

Cable

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It will be interesting to see what I get. If it looks like yours I just know I'll want to bend it. And I'm terrified it will go *snap*. lol
 

Forsoothe!

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I decided I couldn't do much and didn't want to push my luck. Squaaaaak peep peep peep...
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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If it breaks while trying to bend it, you essentially created an unintended trunk chop. They will survive.

@Cable - nice deep dive into the taxonomy. Names will likely change in the future, as there are around 200 species in the genus Desmodium, and most of them are temperate zone herbaceous annuals or die back to the roots perennials. This means the tropical perennial species are likely to get moved elsewhere, with new names. It is interesting that the Ohio, and MIdwest native Desmodium is a source of DMT, Desmodium illinoense. Though you have to be pretty desperate to be digging up the fine thread roots, in hopes of a high. I consider the fact an academic curiosity, not a practical pharmacologic fact.
 

Cable

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So I got an email from Wigert's today saying that shipping was less than calculated and refunding me five bucks. That was cool of them!

Tracking to be here Friday. :)
 

penumbra

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So I got an email from Wigert's today saying that shipping was less than calculated and refunding me five bucks. That was cool of them!

Tracking to be here Friday. :)
That's what they do. Great people. I have plants coming from the Friday as well.
 

penumbra

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Got some in 4 inch pots from Wigert's today. Very healthy and I am glad I bought the smaller ones so I can twist and turn them more as shown on video from Wigert's. Man have these things got thorns.
 

Cable

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Got my tree today. I'm happy with it! Packed well; thankfully, since the FedEx dude left it lying on it's side.

2020-09-11 16.56.05.jpg2020-09-11 16.56.20.jpg2020-09-11 16.56.40.jpg2020-09-11 16.56.24.jpg

And yeah, those thorns are NO JOKE! They're coming off tomorrow.

I'll probably leave it in the soil it's in now for the winter since I had a track record of poor watering last winter and then repot in the spring.
 

Carol 83

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Got some in 4 inch pots from Wigert's today. Very healthy and I am glad I bought the smaller ones so I can twist and turn them more as shown on video from Wigert's. Man have these things got thorns.
Gee, thanks you and @Cable. I had really decided not to buy anything else this year, but the purple flowers...........
 

zanduh

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How springy are the branches and trunk for the size you bought?
 

Carol 83

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I am in the same boat Carol but go ahead, pull the trigger.
But then I saw your post about rooting powder puffs in water and I want one of those too, lol. There was a Fedex box on the door when we got home from vacation today, so yeah I need to edit. ;)
 
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