Tall bush lespedeza

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Tall bush lespedeza flowers

Tall bush lespedeza inflorescence

Tall bush lespedeza habit

Tall bush lespedeza leaf

Tall bush lespedeza habit

Tall bush lespedeza

Tall bush lespedeza habit

Tall bush lespedeza

Tall bush lespedeza leaves

Tall bush lespedeza leaflets

Tall bush lespedeza

Tall bush lespedeza flowers

Morphology

Stem

Erect or ascending, simple or branched above, very leafy, densely soft- or appressed-hairy, ridged.

Leaves

Alternate, short-stalked; stipules linear awl-shaped to bristle-like, less than .2 inch long; pinnately 3-foliolate; leaflets oblong-elliptic or less commonly egg-shaped, .2 to 1.2 inches long, up to .4 inch wide, minutely soft-hairy above, densely velvety-hairy beneath; tips rounded, often with abruptly sharp points.

Inflorescence

Racemes, dense, on stalks in upper leaf axils, 6-14 flowered.

Flower

Both open and self-pollinating flowers lacking petals present; calyces bell-shaped, up to 1/5 inch long; lobes 5, upper 2 lobes united less than half length; corollas papilionaceous, lavender-pink to rose-purple, 1/5 to 1/3 inch long; banner and wings nearly equal, longer than keel; banner darker purple at base; stamens 10, 9 united, 1 free.

Fruit

Pods, 1-seeded, ovate to elliptic, about 1/4 inch long, sparse to densely appressed-hairy; seeds about 1/10 inch long, olive to dark brown, smooth, shiny. Dense axillary clusters of self-pollinating flowers form most of the mature pods on the plant.

Ecology

Habitat

Sandy prairies, dunes, fencerows, roadsides, and dry, rocky or sandy open woods.

Distribution

East 1/2 of Kansas.

Additional Notes