showy tick-trefoil, Desmodium canadense

Showy gets that name because it may have the largest flowers among tick-trefoils. Or not. They're about half an inch long beginning the blooming season. By the end of the season new flowers will be only about half that size. Worse yet, by the end of the season they will be accompanied by the fruit from those early flowers. Nature's velcro. No true wildflower lover hasn't spent too many evenings picking those little triangular burs. Showy tick-trefoil grows in open areas in AR, CT, DE, IA, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SD, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV, MB, NB, NS, ON, and QC. Ives Fen Preserve, Lenawee Co MI, 8/17/15.