Lespedeza capitata Michx.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Fabaceae

• Scientific Name

  Lespedeza capitata Michx.

• Description

  Species Description - Stems ± erect, 6–15 dm, simple or branched above, densely villous; petioles 2–5 mm, shorter than the stalk of the terminal lfl; lfls to 4.5 × 1.8 cm, variable in shape and pubescence, usually appressed-hairy on both sides or glabrous above; heads numerous, forming a thyrsoid infl, subglobose to short-ovoid, 12–25 mm, with very many, densely crowded fls; peduncles usually shorter than the subtending lvs and rarely longer than the heads; fls 8–12 mm, ochroleucous; cal- lobes villous, 6–10 mm; fr pubescent, conspicuously shorter than the cal; 2n=20. Open dry woods, sand- dunes, and prairies; Me. and s. Que. to Minn. and S.D., s. to Ga., w. Fla., and Tex. July–Sept. (L. c. var. stenophylla, the narrow-lvd extreme; L. velutina, the form with spreading-hairy lvs)

• Common Names

  bush-clover