46 CIRCULAR 863, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



botrya are much alike, the flowering panicles of bicolor are ex- 

 panded while those of cyrtobotrya are borne in dense axillary 

 clusters. Both species contain tannin in about the same per- 

 centages as that found in sericea at a comparable stage of maturity. 

 Only a few determinations have been made, however, and no 

 statement of average tannin content can be made. 



In the latitude of Washington the current growth of these and 

 of other shrubby species is often killed nearly to the ground. In 

 that case new growth comes from the crowns as well as from the 

 stubs that escape the cold. In Georgia the current growth is not 

 killed back far and the plants become woody shrubs with several 

 stems from the crown, each stem an inch or more in diameter. 



The pods and seeds of the shrubby species are much larger than 

 those of the herbaceous species (fig. 18). From the few observa- 

 tions made they appear to be preferred by quail to those of Les- 

 pedeza cuneata. The loss in hulling of L. bicolor was found to be 

 30 to 35 percent. A pound of unhulled seed contains 50,000 to 

 60,000 seeds. 



Chromosome Numbers in Sericea 



Chromosome numbers have been determined for a few species 

 and it is apparent that some variations occur. As reported by 

 Cooper (4) the chromosome number of Lespedeza cuneata and of 

 L. variegata [L. inschanica] is 18, of L. stipulacea and of L. to- 

 mentosa, 20, and of L. daurica, 36. Kawakami (16) has reported 

 9 as the haploid chromosome number of L. bicolor, L. cyrtobotrya, 

 L. homoloba, L. sieboldii, and L. sieboldii, var. albiflora. The 

 haploid number should be multiplied by two to correspond to 

 those reported by Cooper. 



LITERATURE CITED 



(1) Bailey, L. H. 



1941. lespedeza. His The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, 

 v. 2, pp. 1844-1845, illus. 



(2) Brackeen, L. O. 



1948. A GOOD COMBINATION: LESPEDEZA SERICEA AND CRIMSON CLOVER. 



Better Crops with Plant Food. 32 (1) : 17-18, 49, illus. 



(3) Clarke, I. D., Frey, R. W., and Hyland, H. L. 



1939. SEASONAL VARIATION IN TANNIN CONTENT OF LESPEDEZA SERICEA. 



Jour. Agr. Res. 58 : 131-139, illus. 



(4) Cooper, D. C. 



1936. CHROMOSOME NUMBERS IN THE LEGUMINOSAE. Amer. Jour. Bot. 



23: 231-233, illus. 



(5) Edwards, F. R. 



1937. sericea lespedeza for fattening lambs. Amer. Soc. Anim. 



Prod. Proc. 1937: 156-158. 



(6) Franchet, L. 



1890. les lespedeza de la chine occidentale. Rev. Hort. [Paris] 

 62: 225-227, illus. 



(7) Georgia Experiment Station. 



[1944] fifty-sixth annual report. Ga. Expt. Sta. Ann. Rpt. [1943- 

 44], 91 pp. illus. 



