Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza violacea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
It has narrow inflorescences, in the upper leaf axils, such that the upper several inches of the stem and branches are covered in small flowers. The leaflets and petiole are somewhat glabrous... It can be confused somewhat with Desmodium marilandicum, which also has similar leaflets and a longish petiole, with few hairs. Learn more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Known in many floras as L. intermedia, this species is actually correctly named L. violacea, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza violacea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza intermedia
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-009:
Lespedeza intermedia FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza violacea
COMMON NAME:
Wand Lespedeza, Wandlike Bush-clover, Violet Bush-clover
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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JK Marlow jkm190802_0473
August Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm190825_0936
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Leaflets (1.3-) 1.8-3 (-3.5)x long as wide, per Weakley's Flora (2015).
)
JK Marlow jkm190825_0938
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Legumes strigose, those produced by chasmogamous flowers 5-7mm long, per Leguminosae (Fabaceae), vol 3, part 2, Vascular flora of the southeastern United States (Isely, 1990).
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JK Marlow jkm180903_4496
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm180903_4497
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Pubescence of the stem appressed, per Weakley's Flora (2015).
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JK Marlow jkm180903_4498
September Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Flowers in dense racemes. Keel petals usually shorter than the wing petals, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm220909_9802
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm220909_9803
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_lespedeza_violacea_1
September Catawba County NC
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_lespedeza_violacea_1b
September Catawba County NC
Upper surface of leaflets glabrous (sometimes strigose along midrib only), per Weakley's Flora (2015).
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_lespedeza_violacea_2
September Catawba County NC
Uppermost flowers commonly exceed their subtending leaves; lower flowers don't, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_lespedeza_violacea_3
September Catawba County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm231021_6145
October Greenville County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza violacea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza violacea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza intermedia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-009:
Lespedeza intermedia
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza violacea
809
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: woodlands and woodland borders, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains, uncommon in Piedmont, rare in Coastal Plain
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Mostly 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!
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p064
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p340
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p037
- 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
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".