Desmodium gyrans Seeds | Chinese Telegraph Plant China
LATIN NAME: Desmodium gyrans
COMMON NAME: Telegraph Plant
Plant Profile
Desmodium gyrans — Telegraph Plant — is a species in the legume family with genuine garden merit. Paired leaflets rotate and dip as if signalling, and plant has fascinated growers for generations. Small pods follow flowers, and plant grows into wiry, branching bush of warm regions. It likes sun, and deep, rich, well-drained soil. Through the flowering season it keeps visiting bees well supplied. It is the sort of plant that quietly justifies the space it occupies.
Science & Biotechnology
The species features in the wider study of the legume family, and its traits make it a useful subject for work on germination biology, cultivation and ornamental selection. Telegraph plant has a famous place in studies of plant movement, and motor organs at leaf bases have fascinated botanists for generations. The practical point for growers is that this plant has been observed in gardens for so long that its behaviour holds few surprises.
Uses & Benefits
Telegraph Plant works well in borders, containers and dedicated beds. In conservatory or on warm windowsill, telegraph plant never stops moving. Paired leaflets rotate and dip through warm day, small flowers draw bees, and plant makes talking point of the collection. Leaves have served traditional uses where it grows, and grower is rewarded with endless, gentle movement. Routine care after establishment is refreshingly light.
Tick clovers include Guang Jin Qian Cao, a standard Chinese herb for urinary stones, and forage species for the tropics; flavonoids from the genus are studied for smooth-muscle and liver effects.
Growing from Seed
Telegraph Plant grows readily from seed. Scatter the seed evenly over a loose seed compost, cover to no more than its own depth, and keep the pot moist and bright. Prick the seedlings out once they are large enough to handle, grow them on in bright light, and plant out when conditions allow.
Our Take
Among the Desmodium group, it is one of the more distinctive species in cultivation. The only critical period is germination, when the compost must stay evenly moist.
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