Slender Bush Clover

Media
Photo of slender bush clover flowers
Scientific Name
Lespedeza virginica
Family
Fabaceae (beans)
Description

Slender bush clover is a bushy perennial plant, usually unbranched, that curves under the weight of its own foliage.

The flowers are on very short stalks arising from the leaf axils, in small clusters along middle and upper stem, small, pink, and pea flower-shaped.

Blooms May–September.

The leaves are alternate, profuse, 3-divided, narrow-linear, short, with a pointed tip and forward-pressed hairs.

The fruits are pods.

Size

Height: stems to 3 feet.

Where To Find
image of Slender Bush Clover distribution map

Statewide, except extreme northwestern Missouri.

Occurs in dry, open woods, prairies, fields, streamsides, roadsides, and railroads.

Native Missouri wildflower.

The name Lespedeza was an attempt to honor a late 1700s Spanish governor of Florida, Vincente Manuel de Céspedes. Botanist André Michaux's notes were apparently mistranscribed in the publication process as "Lespedez." Taxonomic rules prohibit "correcting" names once published.

The seeds are eaten by birds, including quail and turkey.

Deer, rabbits, woodchuck, and livestock graze on the foliage.

A variety of long-tongued insects consume nectar, pollen, or both from the flowers.

Many insects eat the foliage, flowers, fruits, or other parts of the plant, and in turn become food for insect-eating birds, mammals, reptiles, spiders, and other predators.

Like other legumes, this plant enriches the soil with nitrogen.

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About Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants in Missouri
A very simple way of thinking about the green world is to divide the vascular plants into two groups: woody and nonwoody (or herbaceous). But this is an artificial division; many plant families include some species that are woody and some that are not. The diversity of nonwoody vascular plants is staggering! Think of all the ferns, grasses, sedges, lilies, peas, sunflowers, nightshades, milkweeds, mustards, mints, and mallows — weeds and wildflowers — and many more!