lespedeza

[ les-pi-dee-zuh ]

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of lespedeza¹

< 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