42 CIRCULAR 863. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



should be wide enough to cut for hay. Narrow buffer strips of 

 sericea may also be used in critical places even if such a strip 

 cannot be made wide enough to be cut conveniently. It will serve 

 as a wildlife shelter and will not be a menace to the farm as would 

 a similar strip left to grow up to weeds. 



Sericea is useful for stabilizing large gullies. Planted on the 

 ridges and slopes of the gullies with the seeding temporarily pro- 

 tected by mulch it may be expected to cover the eroded areas and 

 prevent further growth of the gully. At the same time such an 

 area makes an ideal wildlife resort, Plants of sericea have been 

 set by hand on gully or road banks where seeding was difficult. 

 Before long these plants serve to control washing and stabilize 

 the bank. In southern Virginia many acres of hillside and gully 

 have been planted to sericea from which the owner is said to have 

 derived a good income for the shooting rights. 



SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF PERENNIAL LESPEDEZAS 

 Varieties of Lespedeza cuneata 



Lespedeza cuneata is variable, the variations observed being in 

 shape of leaflets and earliness of maturity. Two varieties or 

 strains have been introduced, Nos. 12087 and 04730. Under the 

 same conditions No. 04730 grows a few inches taller than 

 No. 12087, matures seed a week or two earlier, and appears to 

 be somewhat more winter-hardy. At the West Tennessee Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station it has been shown that the ad- 

 vantage in earliness and vigor of growth of No. 04730 is great 

 enough to permit one more cutting of hay per season than of 

 No. 12087. The Arlington variety, F.C. 19284, was developed 

 from a single vigorous plant selected from a volunteer stand at 

 Arlington, Va. This strain has been observed in nursery and 

 broadcast plantings along with other strains of sericea. Because 

 of its vigor, uniformity, and high seed yields evidenced in these 

 trials, it is being increased in a number of Soil Conservation 

 Districts for distribution. Other varieties have been tested by 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Agricultural Engineering 

 and some mature much earlier than No. 04730. They have not, 

 however, appeared to possess other advantages warranting in- 

 troduction. Individual variations appear to exist in the tannin 

 content, and this variation is being made the basis of selection 

 for a more palatable strain. 



Native American Species 



The native American species are all herbaceous perennials. 

 Two species (Lespedeza repens and L. procumbens) are prostrate 

 in habit, the others more or less erect. The most common species 

 have been described (29). Of these L. virginica most nearly 

 resembles L. cuneata in habit and leaf form and has often been 

 mistaken for the latter. L. frutescens is said to have been eaten 

 by cattle. These species all contain tannin, but no analyses have 

 been made of material at different stages of growth. Information 

 on the effect of age on tannin content is, therefore, not available. 



