Lespedamine is an indole alkaloid and substituted tryptamine present in the plant Lespedeza bicolor.[1] The alkaloid bears a close structural resemblance to the psychedelic alkaloid dimethyltryptamine and was speculated to have psychoactivity by Alexander Shulgin. No reports on lespedamine's biological activity have been published.

* Lespedeza bicolor var. japonica [DMT,5MD,l,rb]
5-METHOXY-N-METHYLTRYPTAMINE Bark, BUFOTENINE Plant,
BUFOTENINE-OXIDE Fruit, N,N-DIMETHYLTRYPTAMINE Fruit,
N,N-DIMETHYLTRYPTAMINE-OXIDE Fruit, N-METHYLTRYPTAMINE Bark,
HOMOORIENTINE Leaf, LEUCOANTHOCYANIN Plant,
LEUCOPELARGONIDOL Plant, ORIENTIN Leaf, SAPONARETIN Leaf,
VITERINE Leaf

Some years back I sent K Trout the rootbark of Japanese Les. Bi. for study and he noted that nothing new in particular was observed from his analysis.

It took me many hours to harvest the plants and then another three hours or so to carve off the root's bark so that there would be enough for him and some locals to run some tests. Overall, harvesting the rootbark was slow and arduous.

Aquaintances here in Japan who attempted to see if synergy with meclobemide would occur proved unsuccessful with 30-50 grams per person, of this particular rootbark that was powdered and then steeped in sub-boiling water for 30 minutes. Instead of any notable dmt activity, only the sedative effects of the lespedemine (sp?) were strongly apparent. There was little difference between ingesting 30-50 grams of tea with or without a MAOI. The predominate effect of lespedemine is fairly boring not euphoric and sedative, it induces drowsiness. The drowsiness lasted much too long, well through the next day, even after a fitful sleep after the first day. The sedation even seemed to be slightly noticeable on the third day. I can not see any reason to do any more research with this plant unless you are looking for a sedative. The DMT must be in very small amounts.

DMT is said to be most prevalent in the root's bark in early spring, just after winter when the plant has just awoken from dormancy. Why? The roots have likely stored up chemicals probably to deter burrowing rodents or insects during dormancy, (snowy winter here) or it is also possible that the chemicals are stored up upcoming components of spring's new leaves, stems and defence.

Lespedeza bicolor “Bush clover”
Positive tlc assays in seeds, seed pods, stem-bark and roots. co-tlc by Appleseed

Seeds/seed-pods showed same alkaloids as stem-bark but darker and with 3-7 additional bands. (Seeds & pods harvested summer 1994) August stem-bark showed light band.
[Successful bioassay of 30 gm of red fall leaves reported by Wyrm; pers. comm.]

Roots harvested in December showed a positive for DMT and lighter for two other bands. tlc by Appleseed 1994-1995
Some of these results used Ehrlichs spray and there may be confusion with 5-MeO-DMT in seeds and seeds/seed-pods.

Lespedeza bicolor Turcaninow var japonica Nakai
DMT in plant. Goto et al. 1958
Major alkaloid in leaf and one of the main alkaloids in the root bark. Root bark showed higher concentration than leaves. Morimoto & Matsumoto 1966
In leaf. Morimoto & Oshio 1965

Lespedeza capitata Rätsch 1998 lists as containing DMT; citing Kindscher 1992.

Young leaves and stems - cooked[105, 177, 179, 183]. Flowers - cooked[177, 183]. Seed - cooked[105, 177, 179]. Occasionally boiled and eaten with rice[183]. The leaves are used as a tea substitute[177, 183, 266]

The plant contains several biologically active compounds. Pharmaceutical preparations are manufactured from them[222]. An extract of the plant is of disputed utility in chronic kidney disease[222]. Experimentally, it has demonstrated antitumor activity against Walker-256 carcinosarcoma and is also reportedly effective in lowering blood cholesterol levels[222]. It is also believed to reduce blood levels of nitrogen compounds in persons with high nitrogen levels in their urine[222]. The root has been used as an antidote to poisoning[257]. The stems have been used in moxibustion in the treatment of neuralgia and rheumatism[222, 257].

The plant is especially high in protein making it a favorite choice of many kinds of mammalian wildlife including deer, rabbits, and muskrat. It can also be used in pastures as livestock forage. The seeds are eaten by gamebirds and songbirds, including the Mourning Dove, Bobwhite, Turkey, and Junco.