Lespedeza capitata
Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 71. 1803.
Herbs, woody at base. Stems erect or ascending, clustered, 50–150 cm, simple or branched distally, villous. Leaves: stipules subulate to narrowly triangular, to 6 mm; petiole 1–3 mm, shorter than rachis; leaflet blades usually narrowly elliptic-oblong, rarely linear, with raised, whitish reticulate veins adaxially, apex apiculate, surfaces densely whitish gray- or silvery-sericeous abaxially, densely appressed-sericeous or glabrescent adaxially; laterals slightly smaller; terminal blade 20–40 × 2–14 mm, length 2–5(–8) times width. Peduncles shorter to longer (to 1.5 times) than subtending leaves. Racemes capitate, 15+-flowered, flowers closely clustered distally, congested, flowers chasmogamous and cleistogamous, racemes shorter than to 1.5 length of subtending leaves. Pedicels 1–3 mm; bracteoles longer than calyx tube. Flowers: chasmogamous 8–12 mm; calyx 8–12 mm, longer than corolla, tube 2 mm; lobes 5, lateral narrowly ovate, 7–8 mm, apices spinelike; corolla yellow-white or cream and often purple-marked; wings 6.5–7 mm; keel 6 mm. Loments: chasmogamous included in calyx, oblong, 4–7 × 3–4 mm, cleistogamous similar to chasmogamous, sericeous; stipe subsessile. 2n = 20.
Phenology: Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat: Open woodlands, borders, clearings, ruderal sites, fields, prairies, moist pine flatland savannas, flood plains, swamps, pocosins.
Elevation: 0–900 m.
Distribution
N.B., Ont., Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.
Discussion
Lespedeza capitata forms natural hybrids with L. angustifolia, L. frutescens, L. leptostachya, L. repens, L. stuevei, L. violacea, and L. virginica with more commonly observed hybrids receiving species epithets before their origins were understood. Hybrids with L. frutescens have been called L. × manniana Mackenzie & Bush [= L. nuttallii var. manniana (Mackenzie & Bush) Gleason], with L. hirta as L. × longifolia de Candolle [= L. hirta var. longifolia (de Candolle) Fernald], and L. hirta var. dissimulans Fernald, and with L. virginica as L. × simulata Mackenzie & Bush.
Selected References
None.