Lespedeza capitata Michx.

vernacular roundhead lespedeza — species · Fabaceae

USDA: LECA8
GBIF: 2955772
Rank: species

roundhead lespedeza (Lespedeza capitata) — Platephotograph · Link DavisCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus: Lespedeza

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 3 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 3 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: High
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -28 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 140 min.
Precipitation: 19–45 in/yr
pH range: 5.7–8.2
Root depth: 18 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Slow
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 2.6 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Yellow
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: Medium
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Summer
Seed abundance: Low
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 174,000
Propagation: seed

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: No Known Source
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Medium
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 3 counties across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/LECA8 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2955772 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z