LESPEDEZA. Lespedeza striata, Hook and Am. Leguminosce. (Japan clover, Japanese clover, King-grass, Hoopcoop.) Pigs. 593, 594.
An annual forage plant with stems diffusely branched, decumbent, or erect when crowded, three inches to two feet or more in height, subpubescent; leaves three-foliolate, leaflets oblong-obovate, peti oles very short ; peduncles very short, one- to five flowered; flowers appearing singly in a xils of leaves; corolla purple ; pod small, little exceeding the calyx. In the vegetative state the plant is easily confused with Trifolium proeumbens (low hop clover). They may be readily distinguished when in flower, however, as the latter produces much smaller yellow flowers in true heads.
Distribution.
Lespedeza, or Japan clover, as it is more com monly known, is supposed to have been introduced accidentally into South Carolina, where it was first observed in 1349 near Charleston. It came from China or Japan. It spreads rapidly, and has already made its way over the entire South, as far north as Kentucky and Virginia, westward to Arkansas and eastern Texas. It is especially adapted to the Gulf and South Atlantic states, as it requires a warm climate and a long season of growth ; it has not succeeded north of the Ohio river. It is vigor ous, and will hold its own against weeds, and is said to crowd out Bermuda-grass and nut-grass. It should not be allowed, therefore, to gain a foothold in permanent grass-lands. On the other hand, it causes no trouble as a weed in cultivated areas.
Chemical composition.
Its chemical composition as found in Mississippi (Tracy) and Alabama (United States Department of Agriculture) is as follows : especially in thin upland soils not too densely wooded. McCarthy (North Carolina Bulletin No. 133) found a large-leaved variety of Japan clover (L. striate, var. luta) to be superior in some respects to the common form.
Culture.
Soil.—Lespedeza is successful on a wide range of soils, but does best on argillaceous lands. It is notable for its ability to thrive on all kinds of soil under greatly varying conditions. It prefers a moist situation but not a wet one.
The extent of soil preparation may vary widely. The seeds will germinate and establish themselves on hard ground. Very often shallow stirring of the soil is all that is needed to secure a crop. Careful preparation, however, makes a large crop more certain. Potassium fertilizers are said to aid Related spe'ics and varieties.
Two species of Lespedeza, aside from L. striate, have been tested in this country, namely, L. bicolor and L. sericea. The former was introduced in recent years by the United States Department of Agriculture. It is less branched than L. striate, and more erect, reaching a greater height. Its usefulness has not yet been determined, but it gives promise of having much value under special condi tions. Besides these, a number of other species occur in various parts of the country, and contrib ute largely to the value of the native pastures, the growth of the crop in the more northern regions of its production.
Seeding.—Japan clover is not commonly sown, as it has become naturalized throughout a consider able part of the South, and comes in of itself by dropping its seed, which germinates the following spring. It may be seeded to advantage, however, and in parts of Louisiana and elsewhere sowing is the practice when it is desired to secure a stand of lespedeza. It is sown at the rate of ten to twenty pounds per acre in the spring after all danger of frost is past, though it is occasionally fall-planted.
The latter is not to be advised except in the extreme South, as the plant will not stand frost. A stand may be secured by scattering the manure of live stock fed on the hay or green forage con taining ripe seed. The same result is secured by allowing stock the free range of an ad joining field which it is desired to seed. It will generally be most satisfactory to sow the seed when a hay crop is desired. If the hay crop is to be continued on the same land, disk ing the meadow and re-seeding is sufficient. If the crop reaches maturity, enough seed may shatter out to in sure the next crop.