Bicolor Lespedeza arrived in the United States in the late 1800s as a practical plant, brought in for soil stabilization and wildlife food plots, and it performed that job admirably. Too admirably. This upright, loosely branched deciduous shrub from eastern Asia can reach 5 to 10 feet in a single season, and its showy pink-to-purple flower clusters, carried from June to September on arching stems, are followed by seeds that spread readily into forest openings and understories. Dense thickets form quickly, limiting native forest regeneration in ways that the original planters could not have anticipated.

The genus name Lespedeza honors Vincente Manuel de Cespedes, the Spanish governor of West Florida from 1784 to 1790, a bit of nomenclatural history that sits awkwardly alongside the plant's current ecological record. It is hardy from zones 4 to 8 and tolerates poor, dry soils and drought without complaint. Where it is not listed as invasive, cut it back hard in early spring and avoid excess fertilizer, which makes it leggy. Where it is listed, consider alternatives that offer the same late-summer flower interest without the ecological cost.