Endangered Species
Midwest Region

 

 

Map of Region 3 Minnesota Wisconsin Michigan

 

 

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Prairie bush clover

Photo by USFWS; Phil Delphey

 

Status: Threatened, listed June 9, 1987 (5-page PDF)

 

Habitat: Dry to mesic prairies with gravelly soils

 

Lead Region: 3

 

Region 3 Lead Office: Wisconsin - Minnesota Field Office

 

Range: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin


Prairie Bush Clover

(Lespedeza leptostachya)

 

Prairie bush clover is federally protected under the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species. It is a plant in the pea family and is native to tallgrass prairies of four Midwestern states: Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. It has a clover-like leaf comprised of three leaflets about an inch long and a quarter inch wide. Flowering plants are generally between nine and
eighteen inches tall with the flowers loosely arranged on an open spike. The pale pink or cream colored flowers bloom in mid-July and the entire plant has a grayish-silver sheen.

 

Listen to a podcast!

Phil Delphey, biologist in the Twin Cities Field Office talks about the status, management and importance of this prairie plant.

 

Audio Clip

 

 

Prairie Bush Clover Natural History, Ecology, and Regulatory Information

 

Prairie Bush Clover Fact sheet

 

Prairie Bush Clover Profile

 

Minnesota DNR Fact Sheet: Prairie Bush Clover (6-page PDF)

 

Prairie Bush Clover Recovery

 

Recovery Land Acquisition Grant (2010): Empire Prairies State Natural Area (Dane County, WI) $405,523

 

Private Stewardship Grant (May 2007): Restore Native Prairie and Oak Savanna Communities In the Little Sioux Watershed in Northwest Iowa – Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, and O’Brien Counties, Iowa – ($81,000*)

 

Section 6 Grant Project (2006): Determination of the status of Piping Plovers, Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid, Prairie Bush Clover, Fassett's Locoweed, and implement recovery management for Karner Blue Butterfly and Fassett's Locoweed (Wisconsin)

 

S6 Grant Project (2006): Recovery activities for selected federally listed species in Minnesota

 

1988: Prairie Bush Clover Recovery Plan (11MB PDF)

 

Listed Plants

Midwest Endangered Species Home

 
Last updated: October 15, 2015