Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza hirta +
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
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 Hairy Bush-clover from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza hirta +
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza hirta +
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-012:
Lespedeza hirta FAMILY Fabaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza hirta
COMMON NAME:
Hairy Bush-clover, Hairy Lespedeza, Silvery Lespedeza
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm190416_7456
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm200422_4035
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm200525_5195
May Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm060603_020
June Pickens County SC
Field
Petioles of middle leaves 1-1.5cm, those of upper leaves short to none, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm060603_032
June Pickens County SC
Field
)
JK Marlow jkm190726_0278
July Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Racemes on often-elongate peduncles equaling or longer than subtending leaves, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm160816_004
August Oconee County SC
Leaflets 1.3-1.8 x long as wide, per Weakley's Flora.
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and pinnately compound
)
JK Marlow jkm190825_0918
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Hairy calyx lobes much longer than the petals, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm060903_083
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Unlike most Lespedeza species, its flower clusters are widely scattered, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
)
JK Marlow jkm060903_089
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
This species has the widest leaflets of any others in the genus, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
)
JK Marlow jkm060903_095b
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
The standard 6-8mm long and bearing a purplish spot, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm0510d_23b
October Pickens County SC
Field
)
JK Marlow jkm111029_082
October Pickens County SC
Legume 5-8mm long, shorter than the lobes of the long calyx, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm161001_060
September Chesterfield County SC
Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza hirta +
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza hirta +
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza hirta +
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-012:
Lespedeza hirta
FAMILY
Fabaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza hirta
808
Forb
Perennial
Look for it . Var. hirta is found in woodlands and woodland borders, whereas var. curtissii is found in sandhills and dry-to-moist savannas, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common, uncommon, or rare - depending on variety & region
LEAVES:
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Alternate
Stipules are persistent.
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Yellowish-white
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 (Miller & Miller, 2005) p116
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p064
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p088
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p036
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p197
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p172
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p084
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p050
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".