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Amorpha canescens
Also called Downy False Indigo, Downy Indigo Bush, Leadplant Amorpha, Wild Tea
Amorpha canescens, known as leadplant, downy indigo bush, prairie shoestring, or buffalo bellows, is a small, perennial semi-shrub in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to North America. It has very small purple flowers with yellow stamens which are grouped in racemes. Depending on location, the flowers bloom from late June through mid-September. The compound leaves of this plant appear leaden (the reason for the common name "leadplant") due to their dense hairiness. The roots can grow up to 5 m (16 ft) deep and can spread up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) radially. This plant can be found growing in well-drained soils of prairies, bluffs, and open woodlands.
Amorpha canescens can be found in many locations throughout North America, ranging from southern parts of Canada south to Texas and New Mexico and spanning west to Montana and east to Michigan. Leadplant is typically found in dry prairie and savanna communities. Leadplant prefers drier, well-drained soil of many different textures including sandy, gravely, and rocky soils. Finding leadplant indicates minimal livestock grazing and well-kept land that is not overgrown or that has experienced regular fire.
Leadplant is used for a variety of different purposes. Indigenous peoples such as the Oglala use the plant for medicinal purposes. Some indigenous tribes believed that the plant could aide in treating pinworms, eczema, rheumatism, neuralgia, open wounds, and cuts. The leaves of the plant were also used to make a tea and as a smoking mixture when dried, crushed and combined with buffalo fat. It also provides many benefits to the ecosystems it is a part of, for example it provides valuable nutrition for grazing animals and helps prevent soil erosion. Leadplant may also be used in landscaping and gardening purposes due to its nitrogen fixing qualities and ability to help prevent erosion. Its nodulated roots are home to nitrogen fixing bacteria which help the plants grow. On the western side of the Mississippi River in Iowa, Meskwaki women searched for the plant as it sometimes foretold the presence of lead.
Baja California False Indigo · California false indigo · Clusterspike False Indigo · Desert false indigo · Georgia false indigo · Dwarf false indigo · Shining false indigo · Ouachita false indigo · False indigo
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Amorpha canescens by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
