Missouri Invasive Plant Council // Invasive Plant Pages

Sericea lespedeza

Lespedeza cuneata

Sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) is a perennial legume with herbaceous to somewhat woody stems, growing 3 to 6 feet tall, with many erect, leafy branches. Flowers are ¼ to ⅜ inch long and in clusters, the petals cream colored with purple or pink markings. Blooms July–October. Its myriads of seeds are borne in small oval pods that are up to ⅛ inch wide.

Leaves are green to ashy green with densely flattened hairs, compound with 3 leaflets each ¼ to 1 inch long.

Sericea lespedeza seed remains viable in the seed bank for many years. Prescribed burning stimulates sericea seed to sprout, and following up with a chemical treatment may speed up ridding soil of the seed. The most commonly used chemicals for treatment are a mixture of triclopyr and fluroxypyr (PastureGard) or triclopyr (Remedy) once plants are at least 12 inches tall. Later in the growing season, when plants are flowering until seed set, use metsulfuron (e.g., Ally, Escort, Cimarron).

Labeled use rates for the chemicals below can change as the growing season progresses, but are commonly applied at the following rates with surfactant added at .25-.5% solution: PastureGard – Spot spray at .5 oz per gallon of water or broadcast spray at .75 pints per acre / Remedy Ultra – Spot spray at 1.25 oz per gallon of water or broadcast spray at 1-2 pints per acre / Escort XP – Spot spray at 1 oz per 100 gallons of water or broadcast spray at .5-1 oz per acre. Always read and follow chemical labels.

Note: Do not confuse sericea lespedeza with native slender lespedeza (Lespedeza virginiana), which does not have the distinct “fishbone-like” leaf venation pattern that sericea lespedeza has. Also, the native has light to dark pink flowers (not cream-colored petals with purplish markings that sericea has, as seen in one of the photos below).