Lespedeza

Also known as bush clover, Japanese clover

Lespedeza is a genus of some 45 species (including nothospecies) of flowering plants in the pea family (Fabaceae), commonly known as bush clovers or (particularly East Asian species) Japanese clovers (hagi). The genus is native to warm temperate to subtropical regions of eastern North America, eastern and southern Asia and Australasia.

Species

Chinese bushclover

GENUS

KingdomPlantae
PhylumTracheophyta
ClassMagnoliopsida
OrderFabales
FamilyFabaceae

Native toAfghanistan, Alabama, Amur, Arkansas, Assam, Buryatiya, Cambodia, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Connecticut

Observations30,143

Observations recorded161,801

General: are recognised in this treatment as three groups, the Lespedeza Use: lespedeza or Chinese bush clover) is a noxious weed in USA

via GBIF · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 2,105
With media: 1,802
Family: Fabaceae
Collections: MSC, NY, IND, MICH
Recorded in: United States, China

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Research

391 papers

Lespedeza bicolor root extract exerts anti-TNBC potential by regulating FAK-related signalling pathways.American journal of cancer research · 2024
Comparative Analysis of Lespedeza Species: Traditional Uses and Biological Activity of the Fabaceae Family.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
Biologically active polyphenolic compounds from Lespedeza bicolor.Fitoterapia · 2022
The genome of Lespedeza potaninii reveals biased subgenome evolution and drought adaptation.Plant physiology · 2024
Lespedeza bicolor extract supplementation reduced hyperglycemia-induced skeletal muscle damage by regulation of AMPK/SIRT/PGC1α-related energy metabolism in type 2 diabetic mice.Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.) · 2023

via PubMed

~7 min read

Encyclopedic overview

6 sections

Contents

Name of the plant
Cultivation and uses
Species
Footnotes
References
External links

These shrubby plants or trailing vines belong to the "typical" legumes (Faboideae), with the peas and beans, though they are part of another tribe, the Desmodieae. Therein, they are treated as type genus of the smaller subtribe Lespedezinae, which unites the present genus and its presumed closest relatives, Campylotropis and Kummerowia.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Lespedeza” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.