Desmodium uncinatum

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|image=Desmodium uncinatum.jpg

|image_caption=Foliage

|image2=Desmodium uncinatum flowerhead24 (10220225526).jpg

|image2_caption=Close-up of flowers

|genus=Desmodium

|species=uncinatum

|authority=(Jacq.) DC.

|synonyms_ref=

|synonyms={{Collapsible list|

• Desmodium hjalmarsonii (Schindl.) Standl.
• Desmodium pilosiusculum DC.
• Desmodium sandwicense E.Mey.
• Desmodium sinclairii Benth.
• Desmodium uncinatum var. gracile Burkart
• Hedysarum adhaerens Vahl
• Hedysarum mexicanum Sweet
• Hedysarum uncinatum Jacq.
• Hedysarum virgatum Cerv. ex Sweet
• Meibomia hjalmarsonii Schindl.
• Meibomia limensis var. pilosiuscula (DC.) Schindl.
• Meibomia pilosiuscula (DC.) Hochr.
• Meibomia sinclairii (Benth.) Schindl.
• Meibomia uncinata (Jacq.) Kuntze

}}}}

Desmodium uncinatum, the silverleaf desmodium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to Latin America, and introduced as a fodder to various locales in Africa, India, New Guinea, Australia and Hawaii.{{cite web |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1109494-2 |title=Desmodium uncinatum (Jacq.) DC. |author= |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=23 June 2021}} Although chiefly a fodder, it can also be used for pasture, deferred feed, cut-and-carry, hay, ground cover, and mulch.{{cite web |url=https://www.feedipedia.org/node/299 |title=Silverleaf desmodium (Desmodium uncinatum) |last1=Heuzé |first1=V. |last2=Tran |first2=G. |last3=Eugène |first3=M. |last4=Bastianelli |first4=D. |date=7 October 2015 |website=Feedipedia – Animal Feed Resources Information System |publisher=Feedipedia, a programme by INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO |access-date=23 June 2021}} It is considered invasive in Australia and Hawaii.

This species of Desmodium has also found use in the push-pull technology for pest management where it is grown as an intercrop between rows of a cereal crop to control stem-boring insects and fall armyworms. Together with D. intortum (greenleaf desmodium) they are the most common two intercrops of push-pull technology.{{cite journal |last1=Pickett |first1=John A |last2=Woodcock |first2=Christine M |last3=Midega |first3=Charles AO |last4=Khan |first4=Zeyaur R |date=2014 |title=Push–pull farming systems |journal=Current Opinion in Biotechnology |volume=26 |issue= |pages=125–132 |doi=10.1016/j.copbio.2013.12.006 |pmid=24445079 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=Zeyaur R |last2=Midega |first2=Charles AO |last3=Bruce |first3=Toby J. A. |last4=Hooper |first4=Anthony M |last5=Pickett |first5=John A |date=2010 |title=Exploiting phytochemicals for developing a 'push–pull' crop protection strategy for cereal farmers in Africa |url=https://academic.oup.com/jxb/article/61/15/4185/428504 |journal=Journal of Experimental Botany |volume=61 |issue=15 |pages=4185–4196 |doi=10.1093/jxb/erq229 |pmid=20670998 |access-date=22 March 2022|doi-access=free }}