Shrubby Lespedeza

Plant: Perennial forb or, ascending shrub, legume, 3-10 ft (1-3 m) tall, much branched, 3-leaflet leaves, many small purple pea flowers, from woody rootcrown. Dormant brown plants remain standing most of the winter.

Stem: Upright to ascending stems, 0.2-0.8 in (0.5-2 cm) in diameter, arching branched, appressed hairy to hairless, often gray-green.

Leaves: Alternate, 3-leaflet leaves, petioles 0.8-1.5 in (2-4 cm) long, leaflets elliptic to ovate, 0.8-2 in (2-5 cm) long and 0.5-1.2 in (1-3 cm) wide, lower surface lighter green, stipules narrowly linear, 0.04-0.3 in (1-8 mm) long.

Flowers: Jun-Sep. Clusters (racemes) of 5-15 well-spaced flowers from upper leaf axils and exceeding the upper leaves, 4-6 in (10-40 cm) long with clusters subtended by a tiny ovate bract, petals rosy purple (and often whitish), 0.3-0.4 in (8-11 mm) long. Calyx sparsely to very hairy, lobes 0.1-0.2 in (2.5-4.5 mm).

Fruit and seeds: Aug-Nov. Flat legume pod, broadly elliptic, 0.2-0.3 in (6-8 mm) long, densely appressed

* USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA. February 5, 2002.