Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza bicolor
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.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Learn more about Lespedeza from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza bicolor
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza bicolor
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-005:
Lespedeza bicolor FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza bicolor
COMMON NAME:
Bicolor Lespedeza, Bicolor, Shrubby Lespedeza
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm0507n_35
July Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
)
JK Marlow jkm120804_341
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm210807_2529
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Flowers pea-type, rosy-purple to white (bicolor), per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm210807_2530
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm210807_2531
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Calyx sparsely to densely strigilose, lobes 2.5-4.5mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm210812_2637
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
A much-branched woody shrub to 10' tall, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm210812_2647
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm210812_2647b
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm210812_2647c
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Inflorescence a paniculate cluster of individual racemes, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow s070927_h
September Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Each leaflet elliptic-ovate with a hairlike tip; underside lighter, per Nonnative Invasive Plants of Southern Forests (Miller, 2003).
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and pinnately compound
)
JK Marlow s070927_h2
September Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Legume broadly elliptic, 6-8 mm long, tapering to both ends, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm081026_044
October Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
Lespedeza legumes are one-seeded, indehiscent, and flattened, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm201015_7722
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm201015_7727
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm201015_7730
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm231001_5756
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza bicolor
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza bicolor
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza bicolor
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-005:
Lespedeza bicolor
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza bicolor
806
Shrub; Forb
Perennial
Habitat: ‘Wildlife food plots’, roadsides, forests, woodlands, per Weakley's Flora
Non-native: east Asia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
This plant is causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:
- Alabama Invasive Plant Council, 2012
- Forest Health Assessment & Applied Sciences Team: New Invaders of the Northeast
- Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2006
- Kentucky Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2013
- NC Department of Transportation
- SC Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2014
- Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2009
- US Forest Service Southern Research Station
- Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2014
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Alternate
Stipules are persistent.
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Purplish/ Magenta
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) p118
- Invasive Plants, Guide to Identification, Impacts and Control (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2007) p326
- A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests (Miller, Chambliss, & Lowenstein, 2010) p052
- Invasive Exotic Plants of North Carolina (Smith, 2008) p068
- New Invaders of the Northeast and Northcentral US (Rawlins et al., 2018) p045
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p080
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p339
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p169
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p135
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p172
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p188
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p332
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".