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Plant · P-097
Illinois Bundleflower
Desmanthus illinoensis
Illinois Bundleflower is a warm-season perennial legume that fixes nitrogen and provides high-protein forage for ruminants and browsers, with a genuine tolerance for heavy clay and loam soils. Its cooked seed is edible and protein-rich, but should never be fed to poultry - a controlled trial found even 5 percent inclusion depressed broiler intake and weight gain - and the root bark contains toxic gramine and must never be prepared.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 5–8
- Soil
- Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Moderate
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 6–8
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 2–5 ft
- Mature spread
- 24–36 in
- Plant spacing
- 24–35 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
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Adzuki Bean
Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H.Ohashi
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African Eggplant
Solanum aethiopicum
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Alsike Clover
Trifolium hybridum
Alsike Clover fixes nitrogen in wet, acid ground too cold and heavy for red clover to thrive in, and its flowers keep bees working all season…
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Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
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Anise Hyssop
Agastache foeniculum
Anise hyssop is a genuine dual-purpose herb: the leaves and flowers taste like sweet anise and work raw, cooked, or steeped for tea, and the…
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Apple Mint
Mentha suaveolens
Apple Mint is a fast-spreading perennial with densely hairy, spearmint-flavored leaves, usually chopped into a dish or brewed as a tea rather…
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Behind the record
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