Home Flora of Missouri
Home
Name Search
Families
Volumes
!Lespedeza stuevei Nutt. Search in The Plant ListSearch in IPNISearch in Australian Plant Name IndexSearch in NYBG Virtual HerbariumSearch in Muséum national d'Histoire naturelleSearch in Type Specimen Register of the U.S. National HerbariumSearch in Virtual Herbaria AustriaSearch in JSTOR Plant ScienceSearch in SEINetSearch in African Plants Database at Geneva Botanical GardenAfrican Plants, Senckenberg Photo GallerySearch in Flora do Brasil 2020Search in Reflora - Virtual HerbariumSearch in Living Collections Decrease font Increase font Restore font
 

Published In: The Genera of North American Plants 2: 107–108. 1818. (14 Jul 1818) (Gen. N. Amer. Pl.) Name publication detailView in BotanicusView in Biodiversity Heritage Library
 

Project Name Data (Last Modified On 8/29/2017)
Acceptance : Accepted
Project Data     (Last Modified On 7/9/2009)
Status: Native

 

Export To PDF Export To Word

Lespedeza stuevei Nutt. (tall lespedeza, tall bush clover)

Pl. 401 a, b; Map 1774

Plants perennial herbs. Stems 30–150 cm long, 2–4 mm in diameter near the base, erect or strongly ascending, unbranched or relatively few-branched only above the midpoint, densely pubescent with spreading and sometimes also appressed hairs, the hairs not confined to longitudinal ridges, sometimes becoming sparsely pubescent or nearly glabrous toward the base. Primary median leaves with the petiole mostly relatively long and slender, 5–20 mm long, 0.5–0.8 mm wide, densely spreading-hairy. Stipules 3–5 mm long, linear to hairlike. Leaflets 8–20(–50) mm long, 4–15(–20) mm wide (1.3–3.5 times as long as wide), elliptic to oblong, oblong-obovate, or narrowly obovate, those of the uppermost leaves sometimes oblanceolate, rounded, angled, or tapered at the base, rounded to truncate at the tip, occasionally broadly pointed or minutely notched, sometimes appearing grayish-tinged (especially the undersurface), but lacking a silvery or tawny sheen, the upper surface sparsely to moderately pubescent with mostly appressed hairs, sometimes nearly glabrous, the undersurface sparsely to densely appressed-hairy. Axillary leaves usually well-developed. Inflorescences axillary from the upper leaves, sometimes appearing as a leafy terminal cluster, unbranched, relatively dense, shorter than to slightly longer than the subtending leaves. Flowers mostly 5–15 per raceme, relatively dense, but the axis usually visible between the flowers. Calyces with the tube 1–2 mm long, the lobes 2–4 mm long. Corollas 6–7 mm long, pinkish purple, the banner darker purple toward the base, the wings often pale with purple tips, the keel also darker purple at the tip, shorter than the wings. Fruits from open flowers 5–7(–10) mm long, the calyx covering the lower 1/3–1/2; fruits from cleistogamous flowers 4–6 mm long, the calyx covering the lower 1/4–1/3. Seeds 2.5–3.0 mm long, brown or purplish black. 2n=20. July–September.

Scattered south of the Missouri River (eastern U.S. west to Kansas and Texas). Upland prairies, sand prairies, glades, dry upland forests, savannas, and banks of streams and rivers; also old fields and roadsides.

Lespedeza stuevei is superficially similar to L. capitata and L. hirta, but differs in its pinkish purple corollas. The most common hybrids involving this species include those with L. virginica (L.×neglecta (Britton) Mack. & Bush) and L. hirta. The latter hybrid has been confirmed by progeny arrays (Clewell, 1966b).

 


 

 
 
© 2024 Missouri Botanical Garden - 4344 Shaw Boulevard - Saint Louis, Missouri 63110