Lespedeza thunbergii subsp. thunbergii f. alba("Shirahagi")
Japanese name: シラハギ（白萩） Scientific name:Lespedeza thunbergii subsp. thunbergii f. alba
[Overview]
A subshrub reaching 1.5 m tall.
The branches are supple and grow long, with the tips hanging down, and have appressed white hairs.
The leaves are alternate and compound with 3 leaflets; the leaflets are elliptic.
The upper surface of the leaves has short hairs.
The leaf margins are entire.
The stipules are small and lanceolate.
The flowers are pea-shaped and borne in compound racemes 10–15 cm long at the leaf axils.
The flowers are white.
The pods do not split open even when ripe.
[History]
It is thought to be a white-flowered form that arose from Bitchu-yamahagi.
[Cultivation]
It likes sun and is easy to grow, thriving even in poor or dry soil as long as the soil is not excessively wet.
It is cold-hardy, but most of the aboveground part dies back in winter, so cut it back to ground level and let new branches grow the following year.
Transplanting is easy as long as it is done while the plant is leafless.
