Narrowleaf Lespedeza
Lespedeza angustifolia
Found in longleaf pine sandhill-pocosin ecotones and dry to moist pine savannas, mountain bogs, in the Piedmont especially in barrens with hardpan soils. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 5 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- August to October
- Fruiting season
- September to November
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 23 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Who uses this plant?
27CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Lespedeza
- Acronicta lanceolariaNarrow-Winged Dagger, Lanceolate Dagger
- Adelphia petrellaRusty-Banded Adelphia
- Aristotelia roseosuffusellaPink-Washed Aristotelia
- Automeris ioIo Moth
- Caenurgina erechteaClover Looper Moth, Common Grass Moth, Forage Looper
- Cecropterus bathyllusSouthern Cloudywing
- Cecropterus confusisConfusing Cloudywing, Confused Cloudy Wing
- Cecropterus lyciadesHoary Edge
- Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
- Choristoneura obsoletanaObsolete Leafroller
Show all 27
- Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly
- Cupido comyntasEastern Tailed-Blue
- Diphthera festivaHieroglyphic Moth
- Epargyreus clarusSilver-Spotted Skipper
- Gesta zaruccoZarucco Duskywing
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
- Morrisonia confusaConfused Woodgrain
- Pococera scortealisLaspedeza Webworm
- Ptichodis herbarumCommon Ptichodis
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
- Triclonella pergandeellaSweetclover Root Borer, Bush-Clover Triclonella
- Utetheisa ornatrixOrnate Moth, Pink Underwing, Rattlebox Moth, Bella Moth
- Anarsioses aberrans
- Cosmopterix attenuatella
- Porphyrosela desmodiella
16BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Lespedeza
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
4BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Lespedeza
- Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Flower color
- White or purple
- Fruit begins
- September
- Fruit ends
- November
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “August to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “Up to about 5 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| Florida rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| FL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Florida (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications