Lespedeza cuneata Seeds | Sericea Lespedeza

Small cream and purple pea flowers of Sericea Lespedeza on slender stems — Sericea Lespedeza (*Lespedeza cuneata*): Fabaceae, native to eastern Asia and introduced widely as forage.

LATIN NAME: Lespedeza cuneata

COMMON NAME: Sericea Lespedeza

Plant Profile

Sericea lespedeza is a deep-rooted perennial of the pea family, native to China, Japan, Korea, India and Australia, growing one to two metres tall from a woody crown. The stems are erect and slender, and the leaves are trifoliate with narrow, grey-green leaflets that give the plant its soft, silvery look.

From August it carries small, cream and purple pea flowers in clusters along the stems, and these are followed by single-seeded pods that stay closed, so the seed is not shed and must be threshed. The taproot can reach a metre or more into the soil, which is why the plant survives drought and grazing. It was introduced to the United States in 1896 for erosion control and for pasture.

Science & Biotechnology

The species is one of the Asian bush clovers, and it has become a textbook case of an introduced plant that behaved differently from expectation. Brought to the American South for mine reclamation and for pasture, it was found to spread into prairie and open woodland, where it forms dense stands and is now listed as invasive in many states.

Part of the reason is allelopathy: the plant releases phenolic compounds from its roots and litter that suppress the germination of competing species. Part is its tannin content, which makes it unpalatable to livestock once the stems mature, so grazing does not control it. Those same condensed tannins are the reason it is studied as a natural anthelmintic for sheep and goats, since they bind to gut parasites. The species fixes nitrogen through root nodules.

Uses & Benefits

In its native range the plant is used as forage, as a green manure and as a soil binder on poor ground, and the stems are used for thatch and for rough cordage. In the United States it was planted for decades on strip-mined land and along roads, and it is still used in some places for wildlife cover, since quail and other birds use the dense stands.

Its reputation has since turned: it is now a target of control programmes in the Great Plains, where it reduces the diversity of native grassland. In China it is gathered as a medicinal herb, used as a diuretic and for eye complaints, and the roots are used for toothache. The seed is also sold as a sprouting seed in some markets, though the tannins make it bitter.

Growing from Seed

The seed has a hard coat and germinates poorly without scarification; in the field this is why stands establish slowly. For garden or nursery sowing, rub the seed between two sheets of sandpaper or nick the coat, then soak for 12 hours and sow at 20-25 °C. Germination takes two to three weeks.

The seedlings are slow at first because the plant puts its energy into the taproot, so grow them in deep pots and plant out in their second year. It tolerates poor, acid, dry soil and full sun, and it fixes its own nitrogen, so no feeding is needed. In a garden it is best kept in a wild corner or on a dry bank, and the flower stems should be cut before the pods ripen if it is not to spread.

Our Take

A tough legume for poor ground, useful in its native range and a problem where it has been introduced. Grow it with that in mind.

Herb Seeds