Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza capitata
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 Roundhead Lespedeza from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
For excellent detailed photographs with explanatory text, visit Missouri Plants.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza capitata
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza capitata
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-013:
Lespedeza capitata FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza capitata
COMMON NAME:
Round-headed Lespedeza, Roundhead Bush-clover, Silvery Bush-clover
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_leca8_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm0411f_19
November York County SC
Blackjacks Heritage Preserve
Calyx usually conspicuously longer than fruit, lobes lance-linear, subulate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm0411f_29
November York County SC
Roadside
Leaflets (2)2.5-5(8) x long as wide; stem-leaf pubescence usually silvery gray, per Weakley's Flora.
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and pinnately compound
)
JK Marlow jkm111112_373
November York County SC
Racemes numerous, mostly in upper axils, very dense, glomerate or spicate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza capitata
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza capitata
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza capitata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-013:
Lespedeza capitata
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza capitata
1923
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: woodlands and woodland borders, wet meadows, fens, prairies, barrens, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Coastal Plain (uncommon in Carolina Mountains & Carolina Piedmont) (rare in GA Mountains & GA Piedmont)
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
Yellowish
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!
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p165
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p064
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p087
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p037
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p197
- 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) 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".