Lespedeza hirta (L.) Hornem.

vernacular hairy lespedeza — species · Fabaceae

USDA: LEHI2
GBIF: 2955750
Rank: species

hairy lespedeza (Lespedeza hirta) — Platephotograph · Mark KlugeCC 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: Medium
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: High
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -13 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 200 min.
Precipitation: 30–60 in/yr
pH range: 5.8–6.9
Root depth: 9 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 6 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Dark Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Dense
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Black
Fire resistant: Yes
N fixation: Medium
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Summer
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Fall
Seed ends: Winter
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 175,000
Propagation: seed

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: No Known Source
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
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/LEHI2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/2955750 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

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