Flora of North America species comparison

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Lespedeza

bush-clover, lespedeza
Habit Herbs, perennial, or shrubs, unarmed, without uncinate hairs; rootstock woody.
Stems

erect, ascending, procumbent, or trailing, often woody near base in herbs, usually branched, pubescent or glabrescent.
Leaves

alternate, trifoliolate, often larger on medial stems than those subtending inflorescences;

stipules present, usually persistent (caducous in L. texana), ciliate, striate-veined, apex acuminate;

petiolate proximally, sessile or subsessile distally;

stipels absent;

leaflets 3, blade margins entire, ciliate, main lateral veins anastomosing before reaching margin, surfaces glabrous or pubescent;

lateral leaflets pulvinate, sessile or subsessile, blade often ± oblique;

terminal leaflet usually petiolulate (sometimes sessile in L. repens), usually larger than laterals.
Inflorescences

(1 or)2–40-flowered, axillary or appearing terminal due to reduction of subtending leaves, pseudoracemes, consisting of clusters of 2–4 flowers, rarely capitate, sometimes appearing paniclelike when subtending leaves reduced, cleistogamous flowers often in proximal fascicles, bracteolate;

bracts present, 1, subtending each flower cluster;

bracteoles 2, subtending each flower.
Flowers

papilionaceous, chasmogamous or cleistogamous, chasmogamous pedicellate or subsessile, cleistogamous enclosed in calyx with reduced corolla;

calyx campanulate, lobes 4 or 5, often longer than tube, adaxial 2 distinct or proximally ± connate (and thus calyx 4-lobed), apex 2-toothed;

corolla pink to purple, lavender, magenta, reddish purple, or white to pale yellow;

banner broadly obovate to orbiculate, proximally clawed or cuneate, with inflexed auricles, darker purple marks (nectar guides) at throat of adaxial surface of lamina;

wings and keel long-clawed, lamina elliptic-oblong, proximally rounded;

stamens 10, diadelphous;

anthers dorsifixed (uniform);

disc present around base of ovary;

ovary minutely stipitate;

style adaxially incurved, slightly exserted from stamens;

stigma minute, terminal.
Fruits

loments, usually subsessile, sometimes stipitate (sessile in L. procumbens), unilocular, strongly compressed laterally, indehiscent, papery, usually appressed-pubescent, sericeous, or villous;

loments from chasmogamous flowers usually subsessile, sometimes stipitate, usually elliptic-ovate or suborbicular to rounded, style straight;

loments from cleistogamous flowers sessile, usually crowded at base of peduncle, obovate to suborbicular, slightly smaller than chasmogamous, style curved and relatively short.
Seed

1, asymmetrical, ellipsoid or oblong, rim-arillate, chasmogamous seeds slightly longer or similar to cleistogamous.
x

= 9, 10, 11.

Lespedeza
Distribution
from USDA
North America; n Mexico; Asia [Introduced in s Africa, Pacific Islands (Hawaii), Australia]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species 47 (16 in the flora).

Lespedeza species are distributed in Asia mainly from China to Japan, with a few extending to India to Afghanistan, and to New Guinea.

Lespedeza is monophyletic and most closely related to Campylotropis Bunge and Kummerowia (Han J. E. et al. 2010; T. Nemoto et al. 2010; Xu B. et al. 2012). The genus is divided into subg. Lespedeza, native to North America, and subg. Macrolespedeza (Maximowicz) H. Ohashi, confined to Asia (H. Ohashi and Nemoto 2014).

North American Lespedeza is divided into sect. Lespedeza and sect. Lespedezariae (as Lespedezaria) Torrey & A. Gray, which are supported by cpDNA analyses (T. Nemoto et al. 2010). The North America species were mostly well defined by A. F. Clewell (1966) and D. Isely (1998). Thirty putative hybrids are recognized.

Six Asiatic species are recorded as naturalized in North America (D. Isely 1998); Lespedeza virgata (Thunberg) de Candolle, reported from Florida and North Carolina (L. C. Anderson 1988; A. F. Clewell and W. H. Stickell 1990), is excluded because the identifications of vouchers are not confirmed.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Shrubs or herbs; stems 50–300 cm, erect, ascending, or pendent; flowers chasmogamous, (8–)10–15(–16) mm; corollas usually pink-purple, magenta, or reddish purple with darker marks at throat, rarely white.
→ 2
2. Racemes shorter than subtending leaves; lateral calyx lobes spine-tipped; keel petals shorter than wings; leaflet blade apices retuse to obtuse.
L. cyrtobotrya
2. Racemes longer than subtending leaves; lateral calyx lobes not spine-tipped; keel petals longer than wings; leaflet blade apices usually obtuse to acute, sometimes retuse.
→ 3
3. Shrubs; flowers 8–13 mm; lateral calyx lobes shorter than or equal to tube, apex obtuse or acute; wings slightly shorter than keel petals; loments broadly elliptic to suborbicular, stipe to 0.5 mm; leaves often of 2 sizes, those on medial stems much larger than distal ones subtending racemes.
L. bicolor
3. Herbs or shrubs; flowers 12–16 mm; lateral calyx lobes longer than tube, apex acute to shortly acuminate; wings distinctly shorter than keel petals; loments elliptic, stipe 1–2 mm; leaves gradually smaller distally.
L. thunbergii
1. Herbs; stems 10–200 cm, procumbent, trailing, sprawling, erect, or ascending; flowers cleistogamous and chasmogamous (cleistogamous rare in L. leptostachya), 5–10(–12) mm, corollas white to yellow, sometimes with purplish or bluish marks at throat, or pink to lavender or purple.
→ 4
4. Corollas white to pale yellow or cream; calyx lobes usually 5 (except 4 and deeply lobed in L. cuneata, adaxial lobe pair proximally connate most or part of their length), nearly equaling or exceeding loments; bracteoles longer than calyx tube (except L. cuneata with shorter bracteoles); racemes 1–4-flowered or 10–40-flowered.
→ 5
5. Terminal leaflet blades ovate-elliptic, obovate, or rounded, lengths 1.3–1.8 times widths.
L. hirta
5. Terminal leaflet blades usually linear, narrowly elliptic-oblong, or narrowly obovate, rarely elliptic-oblong or narrowly obdeltate, lengths 2–8 times widths.
→ 6
6. Petioles shorter than rachis; racemes shorter than to 1.5 times length of sub­tending leaves; calyces 8–12 mm.
L. capitata
6. Petioles equaling or longer than rachis; racemes shorter than to 1–4 times length of subtending leaves; calyces 4–7 mm.
→ 7
7. Leaflet adaxial surface appressed-pubescent; racemes loosely flowered; corollas 5–6 mm.
L. leptostachya
7. Leaflet adaxial surface glabrous, appressed-puberulent, or glabrescent; racemes closely flowered; corollas 5.5–8 mm.
→ 8
8. Leaflet abaxial surface appressed-pubescent; terminal blade narrowly elliptic, length 2–3 times width.
L. daurica
8. Leaflet abaxial surface densely sericeous or strigose; terminal blade narrowly oblong, narrowly obovate, or narrowly obdeltate, length 3–8 times width.
→ 9
9. Leaflet blades usually narrowly oblong, rarely elliptic-oblong; flowers 5.5–7 mm; bracteoles longer than calyx tube; loments included in calyx.
L. angustifolia
9. Leaflet blades narrowly obovate or narrowly obdeltate; flowers 6.5–8 mm; bracteoles shorter than calyx tube; loments distinctly exserted from calyx.
L. cuneata
4. Corollas usually pink to purple, pink-lavender, or violet, rarely whitish; calyx lobes 4 (adaxial lobe pair proximally connate), to 1/2 as long as loments; bracteoles shorter than calyx tube; racemes 2–15-flowered.
→ 10
10. Stems erect or strongly ascending, initially simple or wandlike, generally branched distally; racemes shorter than or nearly equal to subtending leaves, distal flowers crowded or clustered.
→ 11
11. Leaflet adaxial surface glabrous, sometimes appressed-puberulent on midrib.
L. violacea
11. Leaflet adaxial surface densely to uniformly appressed-pubescent, sometimes glabrescent (but not glabrous).
→ 12
12. Leaflet blades elliptic to elliptic-oblong, terminal blade length 1.5–2.5(–3) times width, base obtuse.
L. stuevei
12. Leaflet blades narrowly elliptic-oblong to linear, terminal blade length 3–7 times width, base obtuse or cuneate.
L. virginica
10. Stems procumbent to weakly ascending, trailing, or sprawling, often branched most of length; racemes longer than subtending leaves, flowers not clustered at stem apices.
→ 13
13. Stems and peduncles sericeous or glabrescent, pedicels appressed-puberulent.
→ 14
14. Keel petals usually longer than wings; leaflet blades apiculate; stems ascending or sprawling.
L. frutescens
14. Keel petals nearly equal to wings; leaflet blades scarcely or minutely apiculate; stems procumbent or trailing.
L. repens
13. Stems, peduncles, and pedicels with some pubescence patent-pilose.
→ 15
15. Leaflet blades apiculate; pedicels of chasmogamous flowers 0.5–2 mm; chas­mogamous loments sessile, elliptic, 4.5–5.5 mm.
L. procumbens
15. Leaflet blades scarcely apiculate; pedicels of chasmogamous flowers 3–5 mm; chasmogamous loments stipitate (stipe 1 mm), rounded, 5–7 mm.
L. texana
Source FNA vol. 11. Author: Hiroyoshi Ohashi.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae
Subordinate taxa
L. angustifolia, L. bicolor, L. capitata, L. cuneata, L. cyrtobotrya, L. daurica, L. frutescens, L. hirta, L. leptostachya, L. procumbens, L. repens, L. stuevei, L. texana, L. thunbergii, L. violacea, L. virginica
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 70, plates 39, 40. (1803)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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