Grona adscendens

Grona adscendens (formerly Desmodium adscendens) is a trailing or ascending perennial herb in the legume family Fabaceae, widely distributed in tropical Africa, the Americas, and Asia where it grows in disturbed grasslands, pastures and roadsides. Stems are slender, somewhat woody at the base, often rooting at the lower nodes, and reach 30 to 80 centimetres long. Leaves are alternate and trifoliolate, the leaflets obovate to elliptic, 1 to 3 centimetres long, with rounded apices and entire margins, the underside finely pubescent. Small lanceolate stipules subtend the petioles. Inflorescences are terminal and axillary racemes bearing small pinkish-purple to lilac papilionaceous flowers about 4 to 6 millimetres long. Fruits are characteristic Desmodium-style loments — flattened pods constricted between segments — covered in hooked hairs that adhere to fur and clothing for dispersal.