LESPEDEZA 17 



L. CYRTOBOTRYA, Miquel. 



A small deciduous shrub, which in this country sends up from the base 

 every summer a number of erect, woody stems 2 to 3 ft. high, that do not 

 survive the winter, but die back to ground-level ; bark downy. Leaves 

 trifoliolate, 3 to 5 ins. long ; leaflets I to if ins. long, \ to f in. wide ; oval or 

 obovate, covered beneath with a fine down especially early in the season ; 

 apex rounded or slightly notched, the midrib ending in a short bristle ; base 

 tapered. Flowers crowded at the end of umbel-like racemes li ins. long, 

 which spring from the axils of the upper leaves of the shoot ; rosy purple, 

 \ to f in. long. Pod ovate, \ in. long, one-seeded. 



Native of Japan and Corea ; introduced to Kew in 1899. It is a pretty 

 plant scarcely known in cultivation, and blossoms in August. 



L. JUNCEA, Persoon. 



A semi-woody plant in this country, sending up annually from a woody 

 root-stalk a crowd of slender, grooved stems 2 to 3 ft. high, covered with 

 whitish hairs. Leaves trifoliolate, with a slender main-stalk \ to \ in. long ; 

 leaflets oblanceolate, \ to f in. long, broadest near the apex, where they 

 are ^ to \ in. wide and short-pointed, tapering thence to a short stalk, 

 covered beneath with fine grey hairs. Flowers in very short-stalked, two- 

 to six-flowered umbels, produced from the leaf-axils ; each flower \ to \ 

 in. long, white or partly blue ; the calyx half as long, hairy, with slender, 

 linear lobes. 



Native of the Himalaya, China, and Siberia ; introduced to Kew in 1895. 

 It is not a showy plant, but distinct and striking for its long slender stems 

 of rather broom-like appearance, very densely clothed with the erect, rather 

 appressed leaves. It flowers in September. 



Var. CUNEATA (L. cuneata, G. Don}. Leaflets wedge-shaped, the end 

 of each one being cut squarely off, except for the bristle-like prolongation 

 of the midrib. Native of China. Other forms of L. juncea have much 

 smaller leaves than those here described. 



L. SlEBOLDII, Miquel. 

 (Garden and Forest, 1892, fig. 19 ; L. bicolor, Hooker fil., Bot. Mag., t. 6602.) 



A semi-woody plant, producing stout, pithy, rather herbaceous, grooved 

 stems, 4 to 8 ft. high, from a woody root-stock ; they die back to ground- 

 level during the winter, and are replaced by a fresh crop the following year. 

 Leaves trifoliolate ; leaflets i^ to 2 ins. long, one-third as much wide, 

 becoming smaller towards the upper part of the stem, the centre one 

 longer-stalked than the side ones ; oval or oval-lanceolate ; coated beneath, 

 especially on the midrib, with appressed greyish hairs. Racemes numerous, 

 up to 6 ins. long, produced from the leaf-axils of the upper part, and at 

 the end of the shoot, the whole constituting a loose panicle 2 to 2^ ft. 

 in length. Each flower is to in. long, pea-shaped, rosy purple ; calyx 

 \ in. long, covered with greyish hairs, and divided half-way down into 

 five awl-shaped teeth. Pod ovate, flat, silky, \ in. long. 



Native of N. China and Japan ; introduced to Europe about 1837, by 

 Siebold. Although strictly speaking it is scarcely "a shrub, it is shrub-like. 

 It is a plant with a luxuriant annual growth of great elegance and beauty, 

 although, flowering late in the season, it does not always reach its best 

 before the frosts come. This is more especially the case after dull wet 

 summers. It commences to flower in September, A single fully grown 



