SERICEA LESPEDEZA
File Size: 55 KB
 
Lespedeza cuneata   (Dumont ) G. Don
Clay County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 2 - 6 feet
Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family
Flowering Period:   July, August, September,October
Also Called: Chinese bush-clover.
Stems: Erect, coarse, fine pubescence on ridges, bushy-branched; branches ascending.
Leaves: Alternate, short-stalked, crowded along stem, pinnately trifoliolate; leaflets narrowly wedge-shaped, 2/5 to 4/5 inch long, 1/16 to 1/4 inch wide, gray-green or silvery-silky beneath; tips shallowly notched or truncate with small sharp point; stipules scale-like, up to 2/5 inch long.
Inflorescences: Short clusters, 1 to 4 flowered, in upper leaf axils.
Flowers: Calyx bell-shaped, 5-lobed, equal to or longer than mature fruit; corolla 1/4 to 2/5 inch long; petals white or creamy-white, base of banner petal purple; wings and keel equal in length; stamens 10, in 2 groups; small self-pollinating flowers that remain closed also common.
Fruits: Pods, oblong, less than 1/8 inch long, nearly glabrous or with flattened-hairs, 1-seeded; seeds tiny, smooth, olive to brown, often spotted.
Habitat: Low open woodlands, thickets, stream valleys, lake and pond borders, waste places, and roadsides; sandy, clayey, or loamy soils.
Distribution: East 2/3 of Kansas.
Forage Value: Sheep and goats will consume sericea lespedeza more readily than cattle. Experiments with goat grazing have shown some promise in controlling this weed.
Comments: Sericea lespedeza is native to eastern Asia. It was often planted for erosion control and wildlife cover but escaped and is now a problem weed that will crowd out more palatable forage plants. Sericea lespedeza has been declared a noxious weed in Kansas.

Sericea lespedeza
162 KB
Clay County, Kansas
Sericea lespedeza leaflets and flowers
65 KB
Clay County, Kansas
Sericea lespedeza
155 KB
Clay County, Kansas
Sericea lespedeza
173 KB
Clay County, Kansas