False indigo is native through much of North America, and is also naturalized in Europe and
Asia.
Plants: Shrubs are deciduous, up to 16–20′ (5–6 m) in height
and 33–39′ (10–12 m) around. Lower stems are woody.
Leaves: Leaves are pinnately compound, with 8-35 leaflets per group.
The stems supporting the leaflets are light grayish green, with fine hairs.
Leaflets are green above, velvety below, ½–1½ ⨉ ½–1″ (1.3–3.8 ⨉ 1.3–2.5 cm), generally oblong in shape.
The leaf margins are
often nearly parellel, rounding abruptly at the ends. Leaflet undersides have scattered, dark, irregularly
shaped glands.
Flowers: Flowers appear in narrow, conical racemes 3–6″ (7.6–15 cm)
long, in groups of 1 to 6. Each flower is ¼″ (6.3 mm), tubular, purple to dark blue, with yellow stamens
and bright orange-yellow anthers. They appear from April-June.
Fruits: Dense groups of small fruits resembling tiny cucumbers,
each up to ⅜″ (9.5 mm) long, yellow green, browning with age.
Blisterlike glands are visible under magnification. Each fruit has a sharp tip and contains 1-2 seeds.
Amorpha angustifolia (Pursh) Boynt. Amorpha bushii Rydb. Amorpha croceolanata P.W. Watson Amorpha curtissii Rydb. Amorpha dewinkeleri Small Amorpha fruticosa L. var. angustifolia Pursh Amorpha fruticosa L. var. croceolanata (P.W. Watson) P.W. Watson ex Mouillef. Amorpha fruticosa L. var. emarginata Pursh Amorpha fruticosa L. var. occidentalis (Abrams) Kearney & Peebles Amorpha fruticosa L. var. oblongifolia Palmer Amorpha fruticosa L. var. tennesseensis (Shuttlw. ex Kunze) Palmer Amorpha occidentalis Abrams Amorpha occidentalis Abrams var. arizonica (Rydb.) Palmer Amorpha occidentalis Abrams var. emarginata (Pursh) Palmer Amorpha tennesseensis Shuttlw. ex Kunze Amorpha virgata Small
8/27/2014 · Rio Grande Nature Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico · ≈ 12 × 8″ (31 × 21 cm)
8/27/2014 · Rio Grande Nature Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico · ≈ 10 × 7″ (25 × 16 cm)
