Shrub lespedeza (Lespedeza bicolor)
Common Names: Bicolor lespedeza, shrub bushclover, shrubby lespedezaDescription: Introduced to the United States in 1856 as an ornamental as well as for soil stabilization and wildlife conservation.
Habit: Erect, multi-branched shrub that can reach 10 feet tall and wide.
Leaves: Deciduous, alternate, and comprised of 3 oval leaflets that are 0.75 - 2 inches long. Leaflets are about 2/3 wide as long.
Stems: 1.2 inches in diameter but can reach up to 1 in diameter if stems survive winter.
Flowers: 0.5 inch long and occur in 2- to 5- inch long racemes. Racemes typically support 5-15 pea like flowers and occur on the upper 2 feet of stems.
Fruit and seeds: Legumes are flat, indehiscent, 1-seeded pods up to 8 mm. long.
Habitat: Native to China, Korea and Japan. Can be found growing in old fields, thickets, savannas, pine forests, and woodlands, and along creek beds.
Reproduction: Primarily by seed but also vegetatively by root crown sprouts following aboveground damage.
Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox and the USDA FEIS.
Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org). Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).