Lespedeza capitata — Edible Plant Database

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves - tea

The leaves can be boiled to make a tea.

Known Hazards

This plant had a number of medicinal uses for Native American groups. It was used as a moxa to treat rheumatism. The Comanche used the leaves for tea. The Meskwaki used the roots to make an antidote for poison. The Pawnee people referred to the plant as rabbit foot (parus-asu) on account of the shape of its fruits and made a tea from the dry stems and leaves when coffee was not available. Among the Omaha and Ponca peoples, it was known as the male buffalo bellow plant.

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It suits hardiness zones 4-8. It grows on sand dunes and in prairies.

North America, USA,

Countries: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Trinidad & Tobago, United States, St Vincent

How to Identify

A shrub. It grows 60-150 cm tall. The leaves vary in shape and are 4.5 cm long by 1.8 cm wide. They can be hairy.

How to Grow

Easily grown in a light loam in full sun. The top growth is not very cold tolerant, although the rootstock is considerably hardier. Plants are usually cut back to the ground in all but very mild winters, though they generally resprout well from the base in the following spring and flower in late summer. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby.

Propagation: Pre-soak seed for 24 hours in warm water, then sow in spring in a greenhouse. Prick seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle and grow on in the greenhouse for at least the first winter. Plant out into permanent positions in late spring or early summer after the last expected frosts. Take half-ripe cuttings of 7–10cm with a heel in July or August, rooting them in individual pots in a frame. Getting cuttings through their first winter can be difficult; plunging the pots in a bed of ashes in a sheltered outdoor border is recommended.

Medicinal Uses

The plant contains several biologically active compounds from which pharmaceutical preparations are manufactured. An extract of the plant is of disputed utility in chronic kidney disease. Experimentally, it has shown antitumour activity against Walker-256 carcinosarcoma and is reportedly effective in lowering blood cholesterol levels. It is also believed to reduce blood levels of nitrogen compounds in people with elevated urinary nitrogen. The root has been used as an antidote to poisoning. The stems have been used in moxibustion for the treatment of neuralgia and rheumatism.

Other Uses

The plant fixes atmospheric nitrogen.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Lespedeza capitata is a species of flowering plant in the Fabaceae, or legume family, and is known by the common name roundhead bushclover, or roundhead lespedeza.

Names & Synonyms

Aeschynomene frutescens Poir.and several others

References (4)

Jackes, D. A., Edible Forest Gardens
Jordan, J., et al, 2006, Vascular Plants Utilized by the Plains Apache in Southwestern Oklahoma, Publications of the Oklahoma Biological Survey. 2nd Series. Volume 7: 24-33, 2006
Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 482
Moerman, D. F., 2010, Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press. p 301