Round Head Lespedeza

Lespedeza capitata

The Pawnee name for this plant is “rabbit foot,” while the Omaha and Ponca name is “male buffalo bellow plant,” as it blooms on hillsides during the bison rutting season.  Use by Native Americans has been documented, but the herb is not widely used today.  L. capitata is related to, but not to be confused with its aggressive and invasive cousin, Serecia Lespedeza.  Another common cousin of this plant is grown in Kansas as a forage crop; Korean Lespedeza, which is a low growing, drought hardy annual.

Family:  Fabaceae/Bean Family
Life cycle: herbaceous perennial (Zones 3-9)
Native:  Great Plains and eastern North America.
Height:  2-3 feet.
Sun:   Full sun optimal.
Soil:   Appears to prefer well drained, hillside soils of the Great Plains.  At Olathe, did well on neutral pH, silt loam soil.
Water:   Plants did well without irrigation at the Olathe site.  However, would probably benefit from some water.
Flowers:  Creamy white in crowded, bristly heads, July-Sept.
Propagation:  Can start from seeds
Pests:  Appears to be resistant to most insect pests, though leaf spotting noted one year, that may have been mildew, due to wet conditions?
Harvesting:   Harvest above ground portions of the plant with clippers or mower?
Parts used:  Above ground stems and leaves.
Used as:  infusion (tea), moxa.
Medicinal Benefits:   The round-head lespedeza was not generally used in Anglo medicine, and is not currently listed in the Herbal PDR.  It was listed in 1901 in the “Preliminary List of Medicinal and Economic Kansas Plants” as a diuretic and emetic.  However, it was used by Native Americans as an antidote for poison, and a beverage tea was made from the leaves that was thought to be beneficial to sick people.  The Omahas and Poncas used lespediza as a moxa for neuralgia or rheumatism.  For this treatment they moistened one end of a short piece of stem so that it would stick to the skin, then lit the other end and allowed it to burn down to the skin.  Similar treatments are often used in traditional Chinese medicine with other plants.  Experiments with lespedeza have found that extracts have antitumor activitiy against Walker-256 carcinosarcoma, and it also reportedly lowers blood cholesterol levels.  The plant contains sev eral biologically active compounds, and is worthy of more research.  Pharmaceutical preparations are manufactured in Europe from this plant.
Market Potential:   Unclear at this time.  Only one company of those surveyed listed a price or product, so it is not widely recognized or used at this time, at least commercially.  The price for Lespedeza tops was $19.52/lb dw (Richters).

KSU Field Trial Data - 2000-2002.  

Summary of field trial data:   Lespedeza is not a common herb in the commercial market, but we wanted to include it in our field screening trials, since it is one of the plants native to the Great Plains region of N. America.  We only tried this plant at one location, Olathe, so it should also be tested at other sites, if it is determined that there is in fact a market for this plant.  At Olathe, the plant appeared healthy (vigor rating average 3.8), though leaves were spotted with something like a mildew in year 2.    Dry weight yields per plant appeared to level off in year 2, but the plants continued to propagate, and more stems were counted each year.  Survival of transplants was also ok, at 73% for first year plants.  Yields were a respectable ton in year two, and ton and a half in year 3, so this could almost be considered a forage crop?  In the flower garden, Lespedeza capitata is a graceful plant on a long stem, with greenish-grey foliage, and white flowers inside a light-brown, ball-like cluster.