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.

---

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 • Feb. 13, 2020

Candidates include asters, Russian sage, caryopteris, lespedeza, buddleia and chrysanthemums.

From Washington Post • May 28, 2019

Candidates include butterfly bush, asters, caryopteris, lespedeza and perovskia.

From Washington Post • May 19, 2015

We've seen explosions of lespedeza in these burn areas�in one it was bicolor lespedeza.

From Time Magazine Archive

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 How to Prosper in Boll Weevil Territory by Alford, G. H.