Desmanthus illinoensis: the prairie mimosa of North America
Desmanthus illinoensis belongs to the central and southern United States, not to Africa or South America as you sometimes read. It grows there on prairies, in thickets, on rocky open ground and along railway embankments, favouring loamy or sandy soil near rivers. It is a herbaceous perennial reaching roughly 60 to 120 centimetres, with a light green, grooved stem that branches very little.
The foliage catches the eye first. Bipinnate and ferny, up to some twenty centimetres long, each compound leaf carries eight to twelve pairs of pinnae, and each of those holds twenty to forty pairs of tiny leaflets. Those leaflets fold shut at night and close halfway on hot days to hold on to moisture. Summer brings globular white flower heads about a centimetre across, each built from thirty to fifty minute flowers whose stamens stick out like pinheads. Clusters of curved, dark brown pods follow, holding up to eight seeds each. Those bundled pods gave the plant its name: desme and anthos are Greek for bundle and flower, while illinoensis simply means from Illinois.
Sowing
- Scuff the hard seed coat lightly with sandpaper or soak the seeds overnight in lukewarm water; without that treatment legume seeds germinate slowly and unevenly.
- Sow in spring on free-draining soil and cover the seeds with no more than half a centimetre of earth.
- Keep the seedbed evenly moist, warm and in full sun.
- Thin the seedlings to roughly thirty centimetres apart. Rich soil is unnecessary: as a legume the plant fixes its own nitrogen through its roots.
What the plant is used for
Across the United States, Desmanthus illinoensis is sown to rebuild worn-out soil and hold back erosion, and its protein-rich foliage also makes it a pasture plant. The Land Institute has spent years breeding it as a perennial seed crop, an alternative to annual legumes. In herbal literature the species also turns up in discussions of ayahuasca analogues. Avalon sells these seeds for growing and study, not for consumption; keep seeds and plants away from children and pets.
More exotic seeds at Avalon
The same category holds Hyoscyamus niger (henbane), Leonotis nepetifolia (klip dagga), Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort), Lactuca virosa (wild lettuce) and Salvia apiana, among others. Your order leaves in discreet packaging.
