Lespedeza maximowiczii

Lespedeza maximowiczii is a deciduous shrub in the Fabaceae family, native to eastern Asia, particularly Korea, northeastern China, and the Russian Far East. The plant reaches 1 to 2 metres in height, with slender, arching, angular green stems that branch from a woody base and become slightly woody with age. Leaves are alternate, trifoliolate, with thin elliptic to broadly ovate leaflets 3 to 6 centimetres long, glabrous to sparsely appressed-hairy on both surfaces and softly silky beneath when young. Flowers are produced in mid to late summer in axillary racemes 4 to 10 centimetres long; each papilionaceous flower is 10 to 15 millimetres long, with a deep rose-pink to purple standard and lighter wings and keel, typical of the genus. Fruits are small flat pods, about 7 to 10 millimetres long, with a single seed and a persistent style. It favours forest margins, thickets, and rocky slopes.