Species of Hylodesmum and Desmodium produce the type of fruit called "schizocarp." It constitutes a short chain of parts named "articles" (or "loments"). Articles separate upon ripening; they are covered with tiny hooked hairs, which enables them to adhere to fur or clothes--hence the epithet glutinosum. Sinuses between articles are wide (in this species) and deep, reaching all the way to schizocarp's upper suture. The latter character is one of the differences between Hylodesmum and Desmodium.
Stipe in this species is 4-12 mm long--shorter than that in H. nudiflorum, where it is 10-20 mm long.