ABSTRACT
Lespedezas are potentially important legumes for pasture, hay, seed and soil improvement in the temperate zones, and are of greatest importance in the southeastern part of the USA. Daylength and temperature influence vegetative growth, flowering, and seed maturity in the annual lespedezas. A short-day plant, lespedeza remains vegetative when daylengths are longer than their critical daylength; and flower and set seed when daylengths become shorter than the critical daylength. The lespedezas will grow on almost any soil, except those which are very sandy. They do well on the sandy loam soils of the Coastal Plain, the clays of the Piedmont, and the limestone soils of Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and will grow well on soils too acid to grow clover or alfalfa. The annual lespedezas are easy to establish, produce relatively high yields of forage and seed on less fertile soils, and will renew stands each year through volunteer reseeding with only minimal management.
