Botany
Desmodium heterophyllum is a prostrate, spreading, slender plant, with stems 10 to 40 centimeters long, clothed with long, spreading hairs. Leaves are 3-foliate on top, and unifoliate lower down. Leaflets are oblong, elliptic, or obovate-oblong, 1 to 2 centimeters long, and hairy beneath. Flowers are purple, and 5 to 6 millimeters long. Pods are about 1.5 centimeters long, with 4 or 5 joints which are as broad as they are long; the upper suture is continuous and the lower indented.

Distribution
- In open, usually damp grasslands, old clearings, etc., at low and medium altitudes in Ilocos Norte, Rizal, and Quezon Provinces in Luzon; in Polillo; and in Palawan.
- Also native to China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea.

Constituents
Moderate levels of tannins.
Alkaloids.

Properties
Considered carminative, tonic, and diuretic.
Leaves considered galactagogue.

Parts used
Roots, twigs, leaves, juice.

Uses
Folkloric
- Roots and leaves, pounded together, are applied to sores.
- Juice dropped into the ear for earache.
- Decoctionn taken for stomachaches and other abdominal complaints.
- In Cambodia, twigs and leaves used to treat urinary retention and digestive complaints. Also used for diarrhea and dysentery. Leaves used as galatagogue.
- In Mauritius, used as a diuretic, for dysentery, and as a cooling medicine.
- In Lombok, Indonesia, roots, stems, and leaves used for scabies and itches.
- In India, whole plant used as galactagogue and expectorant.
Others
- Fodder: For cattle grazing, low yield but good forage,with a nutritive value of 17-18% CP, and no reported toxicity.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Desmodium heterophyllum / Tropical Forages
(2)
Desmodium heterophyllum DC - FABACEAE - Dicotyledon / OswaldAsia
(3)
Medicinal Plants / P P Joy, J Thomas, Samuel Mathew et al / Aromatic and Medicinal Plants Research Station
(4)
Trout’s Notes on the Genus Desmodium / K Trout / Trouts Notes
(5)
Initial Studies on Alkaloids from Lombok Medicinal Plants / Surya Hadi and John B Brenner / Molecules, 2001
(6)
Plant Threats to Pacific Ecosystems / Common names of PIER plants by language (Chinese) / PIER