Here we have a healthy bunch of Japanese Bush-Clover, note the flowers.
Common Name: Japanese Bush-Clover
Other Common Names: Japanese Clover, Common Lespedeza.
Botanical Family: Fabaceae (The Pea Family)
Botanical Latin Name: Kummerowia striata ( aka Lespedeza striata)
Description & Habitat: Japanese Bush-Clover is a annual plant in the Fabaceae family, it is commonly found in fields open woods, by the roadside, and in other sides with disturbed soil. While it has some usage in pastures for forage and in hay its ability to fix nitrogen in the soil is useful as it prefers full sun sandy or fast draining soils and mesic conditions. This plant has a interesting history in the United States as it was noted to have started to appear near the close of the American Civil War in a number of southern states. It is thought that it arrived as a seed or grain contaminant, but was later imported intentionally and used to fill in pastures as livestock forage. This plant has also been used to ‘green’ or revegetate abandoned coal mine sites to prevent erosion and or landslides. There are specific cultivars available today. Despite its potential this plant can become invasive and should be applied with reasonable amounts of caution. Overall Japanese Bush-Clover can grow to be about 16” tall with an alternate leaf pattern. Its flowers can emerge in one of three colors on a single plant ranging from pink to purple to white making it a pretty plant
When & What to Harvest: The leaves and the seeds are both edible. Multiple sources note that it’s not the most highly recommended wild forage plant for food. It may be best to grind the seed into a meal and use it as a bulking or extending agent with cereal flours to make bread.
Poisonous Lookalikes: none
Related Edible Species: Other members of the Lespedeza family are edible.
Recipe: I was unable to locate an actual recipe for this wild plant.
Additional Information: (If applicable)
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/kummerowia-striata/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kummerowia_striata
With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog. In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.
Just as a note, I will be at the Wild Harvest tour. We are going to Clark Park which is located at 631 Sherman Drive, Fayetteville NC 28301. The tour will be led by two mycologists (Eric & Jesse of Sandhills Mushroom farm) and a horticulturist (me) and it runs from 9:00am to 12:00pm. The per-person entry fee is $30.00 per person. We suggest arriving a bit before 9am if possible there will be a wild life safety briefing before we start the tour. Just in case you are worried about the heat, we expect to be in wooded areas and Saturday is supposed to be gorgeous on the weather front.
How to stay in Contact with Us!
Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.
Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville
Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:
The Videos: Look Here
>Newest videos (1): Common Jewelweed
Meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is July 27th at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm.
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