09/04/2026
🌿 Lespedeza & Hazelnuts 🌿
🌾 Do you recognize this plant?
You may know this prolific legume by several names; Sericea, Lespedeza, or Bush Clover. They are one of our most common, ‘invasive species’ here on our reservation. The last couple weeks our team has been working to decrease their numbers before they flower and go to seed. We’ve been doing this by several different tactics: Hoeing, spraying and mowing.
🌾 How did they get here?
Sericea was brought to North America from eastern Asia and planted first in 1896 at the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station and later popularized by the USDA after the dust bowl in the 1930s as erosion control.
🌾 Why do we want less of them?
We work hard to decrease Sericea’s numbers because this plant crowds out and outcompetes our native plants by both growth habits and allopathic (toxic) chemicals they contain; therefore decreasing our biodiversity. According to MDC: ‘Sericea lespedeza has a deep taproot allowing it to outcompete native plants for water and nutrients. Also, it drops 1,000 or more seeds from each stem, and these can remain viable for over two decades.’ Unfortunately, due to their woody stems and tannins our grazers don’t care for them either. Though they are a nitrogen fixer and provide nectar to bees, their negative qualities outweigh their good.
🌾 We excuse this plant so our prairies and woodlands can be diverse ecologies that can hold many of our native foods and medicines. Not too far from where we removed Sericea this week are Hazelnuts who are ripe and ready for harvest. Not only do we remove 'invasive species' but we do our best to promote the growth of plants who can be nourishment to the many (human and non), like our native hazelnuts!
