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• Amorpha
• Amorpha fruticosa

Amorpha fruticosa — false indigo-bush

Facts

With feathery, compound leaves and spires of purple, fragrant flowers, false indigo-bush, a member of the pea family, has been planted widely. Although native to a large part of North America, it is introduced in New England, and considered invasive in Connecticut, where it sometimes escapes the garden to riparian islands and shores. This shrub provides food for the caterpillars of several native butterflies, including the silver-spotted skipper (Epargyreus clarus), and the gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus).

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges

Characteristics

• Buds or leaf scars

  Bud scale number

  • there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
  • there are two scales on the winter bud, and their edges meet

  Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)

  NA

  Collateral buds

  there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches

  Leaf scar arrangement

  there is one leaf scar per node on the stem or twig

  Superposed buds

  there are no superposed buds on the branch

  Winter bud stalks

  the winter buds have no stalks

• Flowers

  Anther color

  there is a noticeable pink, reddish or purplish tint to the anthers

  Carpels fused

  the carpel is solitary or (if 2 or more) the carpels are not fused to one another

  Enlarged sterile flowers

  there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant

  Flower petal color

  purple

  Flower symmetry

  there is only one way to evenly divide the flower (the flower is bilaterally symmetrical)

  Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)

  NA

  Hypanthium present

  the flower has a hypanthium

  Inflorescence hairs

  there are hairs on some part of the inflorescence

  Inflorescence position

  the inflorescences grow on the twigs

  Inflorescence type

  • the inflorescence is a panicle (branched with the individual flowers on stalks)
  • the inflorescence is a raceme (a long unbranched stem with stalked flowers growing along it)

  Number of pistils

  1

  Ovary position

  the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures

  Petal appearance

  the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)

  Petal fusion

  NA

  Sepal cilia (Ilex)

  NA

  Sepal tip glands

  there are no glands at the tips of the sepal lobes

  Sepals fused only to sepals

  the sepals are fused to each other (not other flower parts), at least near their bases

  Stamen number

  10

  Stamen position relative to petals

  NA

  Stamens fused

  the stamens are fused to one another at or near their bases

• Fruits or seeds

  Berry color

  NA

  Fruit tissue origin

  • the hypanthium of the flower becomes part of the fruit
  • there are no flower parts that form part of the fruit

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe

  Fruit type (specific)

  legume

  Nut with spines (Fagaceae)

  NA

  Wings on fruit

  there are no wings on the fruit

• Glands or sap

  Sap color

  the sap is clear and watery

  Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)

  NA

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf has hairs on it

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  • the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf blade base shape

  • the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
  • the base of the leaf blade is rounded

  Leaf blade base symmetry

  the leaf blade base is symmetrical

  Leaf blade bloom

  the underside of the leaf has no noticeable bloom

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes

  Leaf blade edges (Acer)

  NA

  Leaf blade flatness

  the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges

  Leaf blade hairs

  the hairs on the leaf blade are different from the choices given

  Leaf blade length

  100–300 mm

  Leaf blade scales

  there are no scales on the leaf blades

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is oblong (rectangular but with rounded ends)
  • the leaf blade is obovate (egg-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is herbaceous (has a leafy texture)

  Leaf blade translucent dots

  there are no translucent dots on the leaf blade

  Leaf blade vein pattern

  the main veins of the leaf blade are pinnate (the secondary veins branch off at intervals from the main central vein) and non-arcuate (not arched towards the leaf tip)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base toward the tip

  Leaf duration

  the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)

  Leaf form

  the plant is broad-leaved (with broadly flattened leaf blades)

  Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)

  NA

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have leaf stalks

  Leaf stalk attachment to leaf

  the petiole attaches at the basal margin of the leaf blade

  Leaf stalk nectaries

  there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk

  Leaf stalk shape

  the leaf stalk is not flattened

  Leaf teeth

  the edge of the leaf blade is entire (has no teeth or lobes)

  Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)

  NA

  Leaf type

  the leaf blade is compound (i.e., made up of two or more discrete leaflets

  Leaves per node

  there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Specific leaf type

  the leaf is compound, with a single terminal leaflet and more than two additional leaflets

  Stipules

  the plant has stipules

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • edges of forests
  • man-made or disturbed habitats

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant does not have much of an odor, or it has an unpleasant or repellant odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Aerial roots

  the plant has no aerial roots

  Bark texture

  • the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
  • the bark of an adult plant peels off easily or hangs off

  Branch brittleness (willows only)

  NA

  Branch cross-section

  the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles

  First-year cane (Rubus)

  NA

  Lenticels on twigs

  there are clearly lenticels on the twigs

  Short shoots

  there are no peg- or knob-like shoots present

  Twig bloom

  there is no bloom on the twig

  Twig hairs

  the twigs have hairs, but the hairs do not have glands

  Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)

  NA

  Twig scales

  there are no scales on the twig surface

  Twig winter color

  • brown
  • red

  Wings on branch

  the branch does not have wings on it

  armature on plant

  the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns

Wetland status

Usually occurs in wetlands, but occasionally in non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACW)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae