Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza repens
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 Smooth Trailing Lespedeza from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza repens
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza repens
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-004:
Lespedeza repens FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza repens
COMMON NAME:
Smooth Trailing Lespedeza, Creeping Lespedeza, Creeping Bush-clover
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_lere2_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm190520_8539
May Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm120626_270b
June Greenville County SC
Petals subequal in length, or keel slightly exceeding wing petals and standard, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm120626_273
June Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm120626_273b
June Greenville County SC
Keel subequal to the wings, or shorter, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm120626_275
June Greenville County SC
Plants trailing at maturity, stem slender, wiry, appressed-pubescent, strigose, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm120626_275b
June Greenville County SC
Leaflets elliptic, obovate-oblong (or ovate or oblong), ~ half as wide as long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and pinnately compound
)
JK Marlow jkm0509c_35
September Greenville County SC
Field
)
JK Marlow jkm0509d_01
September Greenville County SC
Field
)
JK Marlow jkm0509d_0608
September Greenville County SC
Field
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Lespedeza repens
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Lespedeza repens
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Lespedeza repens
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-27-004:
Lespedeza repens
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Lespedeza repens
811
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: woodlands and woodland borders, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
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:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Purplish
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
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p064
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p339
- 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) p136
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p173
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p082
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p078
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".