Nilam Paranda

Desmodium triflorum Plant Details

🔹 Scientific Info

• Scientific Name: Desmodium triflorum

• Family: Fabaceae (Legume family)

• Common Names:

  • English – Three-flowered Beggarweed, Tick Clover, Creeping Tick Trefoil

  • Malayalam –  Thali Kuranji, Pullu Brahmi, Nilam Paranda 
    

  • Sanskrit – Triphala, Shaliparni (sometimes used in Ayurveda groupings)

 Plant Description

• Type: Small, perennial, creeping herb

• Growth: Low-growing, mat-forming, spreads by rooting at nodes

• Leaves: Trifoliate (3 leaflets), small and rounded

• Flowers: Tiny, pink to purple, usually in clusters of 2–3 (hence triflorum)

• Fruits: Small pods that break into segments, with sticky hairs that cling to animals/clothes (tick-trefoil)

• Habitat: Grows wild in lawns, roadsides, wastelands, and pastures – very common in Kerala as a groundcover

 Care & Cultivation

• Sun Light: Grows well in full sun to partial shade

• Soil: Tolerant of poor soils, thrives in sandy or loamy soil

• Watering: Drought-tolerant once established; grows well in normal rainfall regions

• Special Use: Often used as a soil cover / erosion control plant, improves soil fertility because it is a nitrogen-fixing legume

 Uses of Desmodium triflorum

Medicinal Uses (Traditional / Ayurveda / Folk Medicine)

• Leaves are used for fever, cough, diarrhea, and dysentery

• Decoction used for urinary infections and stomach ailments

• Paste applied to wounds, boils, and skin diseases

• Agricultural & Ecological Uses

• Acts as a forage plant for cattle and goats

• Improves soil fertility through nitrogen fixation

• Used as ground cover in plantations and erosion-prone lands