Lespedeza


Lespedeza is a genus of some 45 species of flowering plants in the pea family, commonly known as bush clovers or Japanese clovers. The genus is native to warm temperate to subtropical regions of eastern North America, eastern and southern Asia and Australasia.
These shrubby plants or trailing vines belong to the "typical" legumes, with the peas and beans, though they are part of another tribe, the Desmodieae. Therein, they are treated as type genus of the smaller subtribe Lespedezinae, which unites the present genus and its presumed closest relatives, Campylotropis and Kummerowia.

Name of the plant

According to American botanist Asa Gray, the Lespedeza owes its name to governor of East Florida Vicente Manuel de Céspedes, but when Céspedes wrote the letter, at the beginning of it, the name of Céspedes was changed to "Zespedez". So, when Michaux's book Flora Boreali-Americana of 1802 was printed, the name "Céspedes" to refer to the plant was written as "Lespedez", the word from which the current name of the plant was derived.
Despeleza is a synonym of Lespedeza, and this name is derived from a taxonomic anagram.

Cultivation and uses

Some species are grown as garden or ornamental plants, and are used as a forage crops, notably in the southern United States, and as a means of soil enrichment and for prevention of erosion. In some areas, certain species are invasive. Lespedeza, like other legumes, have root nodules that harbor bacteria capable of nitrogen fixation from the air into a soil-bound form that can be taken up by other plants. Growers can take advantage of this process by putting the plants in their fields to release nitrogen, so they can use less fertilizer.
L. bicolor leaves and roots contain l-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, as well as related Nω,Nω-dimethyltryptamines and their oxides, as well as some bufotenin.

Species

The species and nothospecies recognized in Lespedeza include:Lespedeza × acuticarpa Lespedeza angustifolia ElliottLespedeza × bicoloba Lespedeza bicolor Turcz. – shrub lespedezaLespedeza × brittonii Lespedeza buergeri Miq.Lespedeza cambodianum Lespedeza capitata Michx. Lespedeza caraganae BungeLespedeza chinensis G.Don Lespedeza cuneata G. DonLespedeza cyrtobotrya Miq. – leafy lespedezaLespedeza × cyrtobuergeri S.Akiyama & H.OhbaLespedeza × cyrtoloba Lespedeza danxiaensis Lespedeza daurica Schindl. Lespedeza davidi Franch.Lespedeza × divaricata T.B.LeeLespedeza dunnii Schindl.Lespedeza elegans Cambess.Lespedeza fasciculiflora Franch.Lespedeza floribunda Bunge Lespedeza fordii Schindl.Lespedeza forrestii Schindl.Lespedeza frutescens Lespedeza gerardiana Maxim.Lespedeza hengduanshanensis Lespedeza hirta Hornem.Lespedeza hisauchii Lespedeza hispida Lespedeza homoloba NakaiLespedeza inschanica Schindl. – greenish juncea lespedezaLespedeza intermedia Britton Lespedeza × intermixta Makino – neonchul lespedezaLespedeza japonica L.H.Bailey Lespedeza jiangxiensis Lespedeza juncea Pers. – juncea lespedeza
  • * Lespedeza juncea var. juncea
  • * Lespedeza juncea var. variegata Lespedeza × kagoshimensis Hatus.Lespedeza leptostachya Engelm. ex A.GrayLespedeza lichiyuniae Lespedeza × longifolia Lespedeza × macrovirgata Lespedeza × manniana Lespedeza maritima Lespedeza maximowiczii R.C.Schneid. – Korean lespedezaLespedeza melanantha Nakai – black-flower lespedezaLespedeza × miquelii Lespedeza mucronata RickerLespedeza × neglecta Lespedeza × nuttallii Lespedeza × oblongifolia Lespedeza pilosa Siebold & Zucc. – pilose lespedezaLespedeza procumbens Michx.Lespedeza pseudomaximowiczii Lespedeza repens W.P.C.BartonLespedeza × robusta Lespedeza sessilifolia Lespedeza × simulata Mack. & BushLespedeza stuevei Nutt.Lespedeza texana BrittonLespedeza thunbergii Nakai
  • * Lespedeza thunbergii subsp. elliptica H.Ohashi
  • * Lespedeza thunbergii subsp. formosa H.Ohashi
  • * Lespedeza thunbergii subsp. patens
  • * Lespedeza thunbergii subsp. satsumensis
  • * Lespedeza thunbergii subsp. thunbergii Lespedeza tomentosa Siebold ex Maxim. – woolly lespedezaLespedeza violacea Pers.Lespedeza virgata DC. – Wando lespedeza Lespedeza virginica Britton
Some species formerly in this genus that are now placed elsewhere, typically in the Lespedezinae, for example, in genus Campylotropis. These include:Lespedeza junghuhniana Bakh.f. = Campylotropis cytisoides Lespedeza sericea = Campylotropis macrostyla Lespedeza speciosa Royle ex Schindl. = Campylotropis speciosa Schindl.Lespedeza striata Hook. & Arn. = Kummerowia striata Schindl.Lespedeza tomentosa Maxim. = Campylotropis pinetorum Schindl.