Alyce clover

Alysicarpus ovalifolius, sometimes called alyce clover or oval-leaf alyceclover, is an annual or short-lived perennial legume native to tropical Africa and Asia and widely introduced as a forage crop and cover plant in the warmer parts of the world. It produces slender, branched, ascending to decumbent stems 30-80 cm long, hairy when young. The leaves are simple (a feature unusual among legumes), with a single ovate to elliptic-oblong leaflet 2-6 cm long, rounded at both ends and softly pubescent beneath. From summer into autumn the plant bears slender axillary and terminal racemes 3-10 cm long of small pea-like flowers, orange-red to purplish or yellow with darker veins. The fruit is a slender, jointed lomentum 1-3 cm long, breaking at maturity into small one-seeded segments. It thrives on light sandy or loamy soils in open grasslands and ruderal sites.