Samoan clover (Desmodium scorpiurus (Sw.) Desv.) is a vigorous perennial tropical legume suited for cultivation in mixed stands with short grasses or other legumes. It is very palatable to livestock.
Description
Desmodium scorpiurus is a prostrate perennial legume that spreads readily from its trailing, climbing or procumbent hairy stems, up to 50 cm long (FAO, 2017; Skerman et al., 1990; Burkill, 1985). Leaves are compound, trifoliolate. Leaflets are elliptic, round or oblong in shape, hairy, 0.5-4.5 cm long x 0.2-1.8 cm broad. The inflorescences are axillary and apical, racemose, 7-33 cm long, few-flowered. Samoan clover flowers are papillonaceous, pink or pale purple in colour. The fruits are cylindrical pods, 4 cm long, hairy, constricted around the seeds. The pods may twist and look like scorpion tails hence the latine name "scorpiurus". The seeds are oblong, 2.3 mm long x 1 mm wide, pale brown in colour (FAO, 2017; Burkill, 1985).
Uses
Samoan clover is used as a pasture crop in Queensland (Australia) and in Cuba. In Africa, its extracts were found to have an anti-inflammatory activity (Adediwura et al., 2016). Important in vitro antibacterial activity of extracts of aerial parts of Samoan clover (extracted with petroleum spirit, chloroform or methanol) were observed against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli or Streptococcus pyogenes (Ndukwe et al., 2006).
