Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

PRAIRIE LESPEDEZA

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Lespedeza violacea (L. ) Pers.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 8-28 inches

Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Also Called:

Violet lespedeza.

Stems:

Weakly erect or trailing, several from base, often finely branched, sparsely pubescent.

Leaves:

Alternate, pinnately trifoliolate, smaller leaves in axils of larger leaves; stalks of main leaves .5 to 1.5 inches long; terminal leaflet somewhat apart from lateral leaflets; leaflets elliptic, oval, or broadly oblong, 1 to 2 inches long, about 1/2 to 1 inch wide, pale green and sparingly flattened-hairy below, mostly glabrous above; stipules filiform, up to 1/4 inch long.

Inflorescences:

Flowers of 2 types; those with petals in racemes less than 2 inches long, loosely few-flowered; those without petals inconspicuous, clustered in axils.

Flowers:

Stalks up to 1/4 inch long; calyx 1/12 to 1/4 inch long, 5-lobed, upper 2 lobes joined above middle; corolla purple to rose-lavender, 1/4 to 2/5 inch long; keel longer than banner and wing petals.

Fruits:

Pod, egg-shaped, up to 1/4 inch long, tapering at both ends, flat, finely-pubescent or nearly glabrous; seed olive or brown, smooth.

Habitat:

Edges of open upland woods, thickets, rocky prairies, and roadsides; dry, rocky soils.

Distribution:

East 1/2 of Kansas.

Forage Value:

White-tailed deer eat prairie lespedeza.

Prairie lespedeza leaflets