Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Lespedeza virginica
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may find it helpful to read Lespedeza Species in the Carolinas by Bill Stringer.
Learn more about Virginia Lespedeza from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza virginica
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-006:
Lespedeza virginica
FAMILY
Fabaceae
COMMON NAME:
Virginia Lespedeza, Slender Lespedeza, Virginia Bush-clover, Slender Bush-clover
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_levi7_001_lvd
)
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.
)
JK Marlow jkm060603_069
June Pickens County SC
Churchyard or cemetery
Note the reddish stem.
)
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.
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and pinnately compound
)
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.
)
JK Marlow jkm0408l_10
August Greenville County SC
Roadside
Its copious flowers give it a top-heavy look, per Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region.
)
JK Marlow jkm0408l_12
August Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm190825_0970
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm200804_6838
August Spartanburg County SC
Stem moderately hairy in lines, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses.
)
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.
)
JK Marlow jkm210907_3403
September Greenville County SC
Blackwell Heritage Preserve
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Lespedeza virginica
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza virginica
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-006:
Lespedeza virginica
FAMILY
Fabaceae
1913
Forb
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common
Look for it in sandhills, woodlands, and woodland borders, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
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!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses p116
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide p064
- Southern Appalachian Wildflowers p143
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p340
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p135
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p172
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p083
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region p144