OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza virginica   FAMILY Fabaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza virginica   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)

Lespedeza virginica

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-006:

Lespedeza virginica   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Lespedeza virginica

 

COMMON NAME:
Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Lespedeza virginica, Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_levi7_001_lvd

        

image of Lespedeza virginica, Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover

JK Marlow    jkm060603_039

June    Greenville County    SC

Field

Get to know this common species so you can learn others less common, per Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011).

image of Lespedeza virginica, Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover

JK Marlow    jkm060603_069

June    Pickens County    SC

Churchyard or cemetery

Note the reddish stem.

image of Lespedeza virginica, Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover

JK Marlow    s060603_d

June    Greenville County    SC

Field

Leaflet base and apex both rounded. Petioles of mid-stem leaves ~ 10mm long, per Weakley's Flora.


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE leaves that are trifoliolate and pinnately compound

image of Lespedeza virginica, Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover

JK Marlow    s080607_c

June    Pickens County    SC

Leaves with long petioles, leaflets < 1/4" wide & about 4x as long, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).

image of Lespedeza virginica, Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover

JK Marlow    jkm0408l_10

August    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

Its copious flowers give it a top-heavy look, per Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011).

image of Lespedeza virginica, Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover

JK Marlow    jkm0408l_12

August    Greenville County    SC

Roadside

image of Lespedeza virginica, Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover

JK Marlow    jkm190825_0970

August    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

image of Lespedeza virginica, Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover

JK Marlow    jkm200804_6838

August    Spartanburg County    SC

Stem moderately hairy in lines, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).

image of Lespedeza virginica, Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover

JK Marlow    jkm210907_3401

September    Greenville County    SC

Blackwell Heritage Preserve

Crowded clusters of 4-10 flowers in upper leaf axils, shorter than leaves, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).

image of Lespedeza virginica, Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover

JK Marlow    jkm210907_3403

September    Greenville County    SC

Blackwell Heritage Preserve

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza virginica   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza virginica   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza virginica

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-006:
Lespedeza virginica   FAMILY Fabaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza virginica

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1913

Forb
Perennial

Habitat: Longleaf pine sandhills, woodlands, and woodland borders, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Alternate
Stipules are persistent.

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Purplish/ Light violet
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
10 stamens, diadelphous, 9 and 1
Superior ovary

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Legume

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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