Found this thriving in my flower bed today. I didn't plant it. What is it?

Desmodium
maybe Desmodium tweedyi
https://www.google.cz/search?q...
or another
https://www.google.cz/search?q...

http://www.wildflower.org/gall...

Thank you@Bamira! I am tempted to let it grow to see what happens.

You can dispose of at any time, but It's hard to grow again

Definitely Desmodium. Is it a low-growing, trailing plant? It reminds me of Creeping Tick Trefoil (Desmodium triflorum) that grows here. I have another tall growing Desmodium that I noticed a few days ago behind my deck; I need to get out tomorrow and take pictures and try to ID it.

Is it a weed? Wild flower? Or something gifted to me by the birds?

ShadyGreenThumb said:Is it a weed? Wild flower? Or something gifted to me by the birds?

Weed or Wildflowers is a matter of opinion. It could have been a gift from a birds or other animal. Desmondium clings to animals fur and drop in the new location so it could have been dropped by just about any animal.

Desmodium is a fabaceae, helps build soil, provides flowers for the butterflies, and seed for quail.

Definitely a keeper at my house.

There is a minor issue with those loments clinging to your clothes if you brush against it...

So... Give the mature seeds a bit of space...

Interesting plant! It is tangled among the Trailing Daisy and below and Angel's Trumpet Tree, dead center. I wouldn't have planted it there if I wanted it. Maybe I could transplant it??

They are also a host plant for at least one of the skipper butterflies.

I think this plant needs more than it gets where it decided to grow. I am going to plant it in my part of the forest. I think it will be quieter for the butterflies back there to enjoy. I often see butterflies in the forest but not so much in my yard.

flaflwrgrl said:They are also a host plant for at least one of the skipper butterflies.

Yup..l this one.

Long tailed skipper...

Here's the caterpillar on a bean plant...

Although, it's usually hidden under a leaf flap....

This may be blooming now.

@Purpleinopp, are you talking about the desmodium blooming? I'll look tomorrow. I know it hasn't grown very fast. I haven't had time to move it to a sunnier location.

Yes, I thought it might. I had a mystery plant I left alone & within the past 2 weeks, it jumped up to over 6 ft. tall & is covered in blooms. Can't nail down the species (yet) but it's some kind of Desmodium. So I thought yours might be blooming too, although IDK much about Desmodiums. Anxious to learn though!

Well mine is hardly 6 ft tall. I propped it up in the Bird Nest Fern for a better picture. It's about15". But maybe there will be flowers? I still think it still needs to be moved.

That does look like buds. If so, I'd say it's happy where it is. Looks like leaves I found in dense shade earlier this year. ID'd as likely Desmodium also, but I've been unable to re-locate the plant to follow-up on trying to nail down the species. Sorry, didn't mean to imply the thought that because it may be a Desmodium that it could or should be 6 ft. tall, just that maybe if 1 kind is blooming now, others might be too.

Oh, that's OK@purpleinop. Mine is a volunteer. And from what everyone tells me, it is a valuable plant. I need to learn about it before I move it. But where it's at is not so good especially if it grows to 6 ft tall!! It is sprawling on the ground as it is. I will leave it for the winter until I find a new place for it.

Since your mystery plant has striped leaves, it's for sure not the same species as the 6-ft. tall one I mentioned, which is also a volunteer. But could yours reach 6 ft. tall? No idea. Doubtful the striped-leaf volunteer plant I found earlier this year has reached 6 ft. tall because if it had, I wouldn't be having a hard time locating it again. Could it be from being in mostly shade, or that it's just not a tall species? IDK. If someone is able to recognize the species of yours, you can know what its' potential is.