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
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 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.
)
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 (Sorrie, 2011).
)
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 (Smith, 1998).
)
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).
)
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 (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
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).
)
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
1913
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Longleaf pine sandhills, woodlands, and woodland borders, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
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!
- 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) p340
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p198
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p135
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p172
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p083
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p144
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".