Bicolor Lespedeza

Lespedeza bicolor

Found in ‘Wildlife food plots’, roadsides, forests, woodlands, extensively naturalized and invasive. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

-85

Severe harm

Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 71%

Height: 5–10 feet
Spread: 5–10 feet
Light: Full sun
Soil moisture: Dry to somewhat dry

See native alternatives

No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…

Do not plant. Listed invasive in Virginia.

Plant this instead

Your county or city

Choose your county to list local plants first.

Silky Dogwood
Swida amomum
Sun: Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade. Soil: Usually moist. Flowers: Yellow or white.
Similar growth form, height, spread
Northern Highbush Blueberry
Vaccinium corymbosum
Sun: Full sun, Partial shade. Soil: Somewhat dry to moist. Flowers: Pink or white.
Similar growth form, height, spread
Different: bloom season
Deerberry
Vaccinium stamineum
Sun: Full sun, Partial shade. Soil: Dry to average. Flowers: Green, pink or white.
Similar growth form, height, spread

Refine these alternatives in the finder

Check a whole list of plants

At a glance

Life cycle: Woody perennial
Leaves: Deciduous
Bloom: June to September
Fruiting season: August to November

JFMAMJJASOND

Recorded in 68 Virginia counties and cities.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Lyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Shown: Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr), a neighboring state.Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain", Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record. scaled to 1280 x 942 by the Wikimedia thumbnailer from 1340 x 986; no crop or other change

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 25 animals.

Widespread birds also seen here (54)

Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

25CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Lespedeza

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
Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly

Show all 25

Cupido comyntasEastern Tailed-Blue
Dasylophia anguinaBlack-Spotted Prominent
Epargyreus clarusSilver-Spotted Skipper
Gesta zaruccoZarucco Duskywing
Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
Morrisonia confusaConfused Woodgrain
Ptichodis herbarumCommon Ptichodis
Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
Stilbosis tesquellaHog-Peanut Leaf-Sewer
Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
Triclonella pergandeellaSweetclover Root Borer, Bush-Clover Triclonella
Utetheisa ornatrixOrnate Moth, Pink Underwing, Rattlebox Moth, Bella Moth
Cosmopterix lespedezae
Porphyrosela desmodiella

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

—Specialist beesPollen specialists

4BirdsRecorded eating Lespedeza in Virginia

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Birds whose range includes Virginia, most records first.