LEPTOSYNE 



LESPEDEZA 



903 



fls. In the North these plants are mostly treated as 

 half-hardy annuals. None of them has anything like the 

 ! popularity of either Cosmos or CaUiopsis elegans. The 

 commonest species is L. maritima, but L. Stillmani 

 promises to outrank it, though it is not yet advertised in 

 ,America. L. Stillmani is said to bear fls. 1% in. across, 

 .for 5 or 6 weeks. Its seed germinates quickly and can 

 be sown outdoors. Sandy soil arid a sunny position is 

 advised. It is said to bloom in four to five weeks after sow- 

 :ing. L. maritima should be started indoors, transplanted 

 in May, and can be brought into flower by July. Two dis- 

 tinct plants are passing in the trade as L. maritima, 

 one of which is L. calliopsidea, and is considered an in- 

 ferior plant by some. The seeds of the two plants are 

 easily distinguished. Genus monographed 1886, in 

 .Gray's "Synoptical Flora." 



A. Hays obovate. 



B. Seeds having long, soft, villous hairs. 

 calliopsldea, Gray (Agarista calliopsidea, DC. Co- 

 redpsi* call iopxidea t Bol.). This is the plant figured in 

 'R.H. 1873:330, erroneously as L. maritima. Annual 

 i 1-2 ft. high: fls. 3 in. across; rays fewer, shorter and 

 broader than in L. maritima, 1M in. long, %-l in. wide. 



BB. Seeds having short, rigid bristles. 

 Doiiglasii, DC. Annual, 9-12 in. high: Ivs. 1-3-times 

 parted: ring of the disk-tis. distinctly bearded. Int. by 

 Orcutt, 1891. 



BBB. Seeds not hairy. 



Stillmanni, Gray. Stouter than L. Doiiglasii: ring of 

 the disk-fls. beardless. Gn. 52, p. 461. G.C. III. 22:333. 

 R.B. 23, p. 275. Gt. 46, p. 612. S.H. 2:44. Int. 1898, by 

 Denary. 



AA. Says oblong. 

 B. Stems low, from a thick base. 

 maritima, Gray. Perennial: lvs.2-pinnate: fls. 3/^ in. 

 across, borne at the ends of branches on peduncles 9-12 

 in. long; rays 16-20, 1% in. long; disk 1 in. across: 

 seeds not hairy. B.M. 6241. Gn. 49:1061. Not R.H. 

 1873:330, which is really!/, calliopsidea. Makes a good 

 bog plant. 



BB. Stems 2-8 ft. high, 1-5 in. thick. 

 gigantea, Kellogg. Differs in being leafy at the top 

 only, the others being leafy at the base: Ivs. 2-3-pin- 

 nate: fls. smaller than in L. maritima, borne on short 

 corymbose peduncles ; disk % in. across : seeds not 

 hairy. Cult, in S. Calif. Gt. 44, p. 592. Pranceschi says 

 the fls. are sweet-scented. W.M. 



LEPTOT^NIA diss6cta and multifida were adver- 

 tised in 1881 by Edward Gillett, of Southwick, Mass , 

 for Californian collectors, but it is doubtful if any plants 

 of these species are cult, in gardens. They are pre- 

 sumably inferior in height and hardiness to Ferula. 

 For descriptions, see Coulter and Rose's Revision of 

 North American Umbelliferae, 1888. 



LEPTOTES. See Tetramicra. 



LESPEDEZA (D. Lespedez was a Spanish governor 

 of Florida, who aided the botanist Michaux). Legumi- 

 nbsae. BUSH CLOVER. Between 30 and 40 perennial 

 herbs and shrubs in N. Amer., Asia and Australia, with 

 small (often inconspicuous), pea-shaped fls. in racemes 

 or heads: Ivs. pinnately 3-foliolate or rarely 1-foliolate, 

 the Ifts. entire and wanting stipels: calyx lobes nearly 

 equal, sometimes subulate ; anthers usually 9 and 1 : pod 

 short and 1-seeded (and in this differing from Desmo- 

 dium, which has jointed pods). In some of the Lespe- 

 dezas there are two kinds of fls., petal-bearing and 

 mostly sterile, apetalous and mostly fertile. There are 

 a number of native Lespedezas, some of which are of- 

 fered by dealers in native plants, but they are not very 

 showy and are most in place in native borders and in 

 amateur collections. Two or three of the oriental species 

 are now becoming popular. L. striata is the Japan Clo- 

 ver of the South, and is a valuable forage and green-ma- 

 nure plant. L. bicolor is a low shrub, with small violet- 

 purple fls., hardy in New England, but little known in 

 cult. The most important ornamental members of the 



genus thus far introduced are L. Sieboldi and L. Ja- 

 ponica, which are hardy herbs sending up many strong, 

 wiry shoots each year, and blooming profusely in Sep- 

 tember and October. Their late bloom is very desirable. 

 All Lespedezas are of the easiest culture wherever 

 hardy. Usually increased by division of the clumps. 

 L. Sieboldi is readily propagated by greenwood cut- 

 tings under glass. Monogr. by Maximo wicz in Act. 

 Hort. Petrop. ii. (1873). 



A. Occidental or native Lespedezas: of upright or erect 

 habit, not showy: stipules and flower-bracts mi- 

 nute, subulate. 



These species are not in general commerce, but are 

 offered by dealers in native plants. They thrive in light, 

 dry soils. Because of the grayish or brownish color of 

 the foliage, they are sometimes useful in landscape- 

 gardening work. Hardy, and of easiest culture. Per- 

 ennial. 



B. Fls. whitish or yellowish, all complete. 



hirta, Ell. Erect, 2-4 ft. tall, silky-pubescent: petioles 

 shorter than the Ivs.: Ifts. nearly orbicular: fls. in ob- 

 long or cylindrical heads which are on peduncles which 

 usually exceed the Ivs. Dry soils, New England to Fla. 

 andW. Mn. 6:181. 



capitata, Michx. Much like the last, but Ifts. narrow- 

 oblong or oval, and the fl. -heads dense and short-pe- 

 duncled. Range of the above. 



BB. Fls. purple or violet, or some of 



them apetalous. 

 c. Peduncles slender. 



violacea, Pers. Two to 3 ft., only 

 slightly pubescent: Ifts. oval or ellip- 

 tic: fls. small, in a loose cluster which 

 is on a stalk usually longer than the 

 Ivs. Range of above. 



Nuttallii, Darl. Two to 3 ft., hairy- 

 pubescent: Ifts. oval, oblong or nearly 

 orbicular : fl. -clus- 

 ters dense or even 

 capitate, the stalk 

 mostly exceeding 

 the Ivs. Range of 

 above. 



cc. Peduncles nearly 



or quite wanting. 



Stuvei, Nutt. Most- 

 ly unbranched, 2-4 

 ft., velvety-pubescent: 

 tioles very short : Ifts. 

 long to nearly orbicular: fls. 

 in nearly sessile, axillary 

 clusters or heads. New 

 York, south and west. 



frutSscens, Britt. (L. 

 Stuvei, var. intermedia, 

 Wats.). Less pubescent or 

 almost glabrous : petioles 

 mostly longer : Ifts. oval to 

 elliptic: clusters very short- 

 stalked. New Eng., south 

 and west. 



AA. Oriental Lespedeza, 

 grown for forage in the 

 South: of trailing habit: 

 stipules and f I. -bracts 

 conspicuous. 



striata, Hook. & Am. 

 JAPAN CLOVER. HOOPKOOP. 

 Annual, somewhat pubes- 

 cent, decumbent or erect, (x %.) 

 slender: Ivs. small and very 



numerous, the Ifts. oblong or obovate, and the petioles 

 very short: fls. small, pink or purple, in axillary clus- 

 ters. China and Japan. Said to have been introduced 

 accidentally into S. Car. in 1849, but probably in the 

 country much before that time. It is now extensively 

 naturalized south of the Ohio river, growing on nearly 

 all kinds of land. On light lands it makes dense mats, 



1263. Lespedeza bicolor. 



