''Amorpha fruticosa'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, known by several common names, including desert false indigo, false indigo-bush, and bastard indigobush. It is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to North America.

Description

''Amorpha fruticosa'' is a perennial shrub. It grows as a glandular, thornless shrub which can reach in height and spread to twice that in width. It is somewhat variable in morphology. The leaves are made up of many hairy, oval-shaped, spine-tipped leaflets. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is a spike-shaped raceme of many flowers, each with a single purple petal and ten protruding stamens with yellow anthers. The fruit is a legume pod containing one or two seeds.

Distribution and habitat

The native range extends through much of the United States and south into Mexico. Its native habitats include stream and pond edges, open woods, roadsides and canyons. The species has escaped cultivation elsewhere and is present as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, Asia, and other continents. It is often cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

, and some wild populations may be descended from garden escapes.

Chemistry

6'-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-12a-hydroxydalpanol, a

rotenoid Rotenoids are naturally occurring substances containing a cis-fused tetrahydrochromeno ,4-bhromene nucleus. Many have insecticidal activity, such as the prototypical member of the family, rotenone. Rotenoids are related to the isoflavones. Natu ...

, can be found in the fruits of ''A. fruticosa''. Several members of the amorfrutin class of compounds have been isolated from the fruits. Amorfrutins as well as other

secondary metabolites Secondary metabolites, also called specialised metabolites, toxins, secondary products, or natural products, are organic compounds produced by any lifeform, e.g. bacteria, fungi, animals, or plants, which are not directly involved in the nor ...

from ''A. fruticosa'' have displayed favorable bioactivities counteracting diabetes and the metabolic syndrome.

Ecology

It is a larval host to the

clouded sulphur ''Colias philodice'', the common sulphur or clouded sulphur, is a North American butterfly in the family Pieridae, subfamily Coliadinae. Description This species is a typical member of the genus. Both genders typically have pale yellow wings a ...

gray hairstreak The gray hairstreak (''Strymon melinus'') is also called the bean lycaenid or cotton square borer. It is a member of the Lycaenidae family, known as the gossamer-winged butterflies and the second-largest family of butterflies. It is one of the mos ...

hoary edge ''Cecropterus lyciades'', the hoary edge, is a species of skipper in the family Hesperiidae which can be seen throughout the eastern United States in open woodlands, deciduous mixed forest and sandy areas. ''Achalarus lyacides'' is an uncommon b ...

, Io moth, marine blue, silver-spotted skipper, and

southern dogface ''Zerene cesonia'', the southern dogface, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Pieridae, subfamily Coliadinae (until recently the species was sometimes placed in the related genus ''Colias'' instead of ''Zerene''). Description ...

. The plentiful seeds are a food source for bobwhite quail. Both bees and butterflies use the flowers as a nectar source.

Cultivars

* 'Albiflora', with white flowers * 'Crispa', with curled leaves * 'Lewisii', with narrow leaves * 'Pendula', with arching branches, forming a dome shape

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants Profile
*
Amorpha fruticosa L.
Medicinal Plant Images Database (School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University) fruticosa Flora of Eastern Canada Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of the United States {{Faboideae-stub