SLENDER BUSH CLOVER
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| File Size: 57 KB |
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Lespedeza virginica (L. ) Britton
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| Cherokee County, Kansas |
| Perennial |
| Height: 12-40 inches |
| Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family |
| Flowering Period: July, August, September |
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| Also Called: | | Slender bush lespedeza. | | Stems: | | Erect or ascending, 1-several, simple or branched above, pubescent, usually densely leafy. | | Leaves: | | Alternate, numerous, crowded, often ascending, pinnately 3-foliolate; leaflets narrowly oblong or linear, .25 to 1.6 inch long, 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide; surfaces short-hairy or rarely glabrous above; tip rounded to bristle-tipped; base rounded or pointed; stipules threadlike, 1/8 to 1/4 inch long, persistent. | | Inflorescences: | | Racemes, short-stalked, dense, 4-14-flowered, borne in upper leaf axils. | | Flowers: | | Flowers of 2 forms: those open at pollination with bell-shaped calyx; lobes nearly equal, tapering to points; corolla papilionaceous, around 1/4 inch long, pink or purplish; banner darker near base; keel usually slightly longer than banner and wings; stamens 10, 9 united, 1 free; or small, closed, self-pollinating flowers in small clusters along mid-stem. | | Fruits: | | Pod, 1/6 to 1/5 inch long, flattened, 1-seeded, pubescent; seed ellipsoid, 1/10 to 1/8 inch long, smooth, shiny, green to brown. | | Habitat: | | Dry open woods, prairies, thickets, roadsides, gravelly margins of steams; often on rocky or sandy soils. | | Distribution: | | East 2/5 of Kansas | | Origin: | | Native | | Forage Value: | | White-tailed deer and rabbits browse the plant. The seeds are eaten by bobwhite quail, turkeys, and ruffed grouse. | | Comments: | | Lespedeza was meant to honor V. M. Cespedez, a Spanish governor in Florida from 1784-1790, but was mis-spelled. |
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| Slender bush clover |  | | 33 KB | | Cherokee County, Kansas |
| | Slender bush clover leaf |  | | 41 KB | | Cherokee County, Kansas |
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