Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza frutescens
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Unlike most others in the genus, this is a species of woodlands and small openings in woodlands/forests, preferring partial shade... Learn more from Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Known in many floras as L. violacea (see synonymy), that name actually is the correct name for the species traditionally known as L. intermedia, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza frutescens
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED) Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza violacea
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED) VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-008:
Lespedeza violacea FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza frutescens
COMMON NAME:
Violet Lespedeza, Shrubby Bush-clover
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_lefr5_001_lvd
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza frutescens
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza frutescens
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED)
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza violacea
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED)
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-008:
Lespedeza violacea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza frutescens
3467
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: woodlands and woodland borders, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains & NC Piedmont (rare in GA Coastal Plain) (uncommon elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
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:
Fall
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
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".