Every now and then I get a request from a friend to help solve a mystery. The mystery is, “What is this plant?” or perhaps, “What is this insect?” I thoroughly enjoy the mystery and sometimes I actually come up with the correct answer, but not always.

Sometimes the question comes with several great photographs making things much simpler. Other times, such as this case, the question comes with a description. Stalks with purple flowers. No leaves. Trail side. So I begin to wonder.

This plant is Naked-flowered Tick Trefoil (Desmodium nudiflorum). An herbaceous perennial native to the eastern US and southern Ontario. It likes shade or part shade in rich woods. Blooming now into August. Naked-flowered Tick Trefoil has two different types of stems, one with leaves on it and a separate stem that has only flowers. The flowering stem is tall, towering up to 40 inches tall. The leafy stem is short, only to 12 inches. And the flower color? Purply-pink.

Could this be your mystery flower, Kathy?