lespedeza

American  

[les-pi-dee-zuh] / ˌlɛs pɪˈdi zə /

noun

1. any shrub or herb belonging to the genus Lespedeza, of the legume family, having trifoliolate leaves and lavender flowers, grown for forage, soil improvement, etc.

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Etymology

Origin of lespedeza

< New Latin (1803), after V. M. de Zespedez (misread as Lespedez ), 18th-century Spanish governor of East Florida

Example Sentences

Worse still, lespedeza, a woody legume from Asia, had spread rapidly, filling lopped-off mountains with thickets of prickly, inedible stalks.

From Washington Post

One species Ledford is up against is Sericea lespedeza, a flowering legume.

From Scientific American

He reseeded the plot with Serecea lespedeza, a thick green ground cover, and blackberry bushes.

From Washington Times

The bale of cotton per acre land will produce about $30 worth of oats, at least one and a half tons of lespedeza hay, and five bushels of lespedeza seed.

From Project Gutenberg

Together with the wistaria, the lotus, the iris, the lespedeza, and a few others, these take the place which is occupied in the West by the rose, the lily, the violet, etc.

From Project Gutenberg