Desmanthus illinoiensis, “Illinois bundleflower”
Fabaceae
Over the past few years I’ve picked up quite a bit of lore about this plant, and I was happy to finally notice it on the roadside yesterday!
A common plant in many areas of the south central and Midwestern US. It can often be found growing on the sides of roads, needing full sun and ample moisture during its short growing season. USDA Zones 5-8 are recommended for outside cultivation (Wikipedia).
People have had good luck interesting it into existing warm season pastures (Dovel, Hussey, Holt 1990). Bundleflower can contribute protein in summer pastures in the Midwest (Fischbach et al. 2005). In a study comparing the possibility of native prairie legumes, sheep found Illinois bundleflower extremely palatable (Sheaffer, Wyse, Ehlke 2009). Illinois bundleflower also appears to have the greatest potential as a forage species among 15 species of native legumes evaluated for forage yield, quality, and seed production (McGraw et al. 2004).
Root bark of D. illinoensis has been found to contain N,N-DMT, NMT, N-hydroxy-N-methyltryptamine, 2-hydroxy-N-methyltryptamine, and gramine (toxic). The root bark is mixed with a native source of beta-Carbolines (e.g., passion flower in North America) to produce a hallucinogenic drink called prairiehuasca, which is an analog of the shamanic brew ayahuasca.
At one time the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas looked into using its seed as breeding stock for a novel, perennial, temperate, leguminous human food but have dropped it and are evaluating other leads.
Paradise Ecological Services 