Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Fabales > Fabaceae > Amorpha > Amorpha canescens

Amorpha canescens (leadplant amorpha; Lead Plant; Leadplant)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Amorpha canescens (Leadplant, Leadplant amorpha, Prairie shoestring) is a 30–90 cm (0.98–2.95 ft) tall deciduous shrub in the Pea family (Fabaceae) that is native to North America. It has very small purple flowers with yellow stamens which are grouped in racemes. The flowers bloom in early July. The compound leaves of this plant appear leaden (the reason for the common name "leadplant") due to their dense hairiness. The roots can grow deeper than 1.2 meters (3.9 feet). This plant can be found growing in well drained soils of prairies, bluffs, and open woodlands.
View Wikipedia Record: Amorpha canescens

Attributes

Bloom Period [1]  Early Summer
Drought Tolerance [1]  High
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [1]  High
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Frost Free Days [1]  3 months 10 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [1]  Low
Fruit/Seed Begin [1]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [1]  Fall
Growth Form [1]  Multiple Stem
Growth Period [1]  Spring, Summer
Growth Rate [1]  Moderate
Leaf Type [2]  Deciduous
Lifespan [1]  Perennial
Propagation [1]  Bare Root, Container, Cutting, Seed
Root Depth [1]  20 inches (51 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [1]  Slow
Seed Vigor [1]  Medium
Seeds Per [1]  195333 / lb (430635 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [1]  Semi-Erect
Structure [2]  Shrub
Usage [2]  Plants have an extensive root system, they tolerate poor dry soils and are also wind resistant, they are used as a windbreak and also to prevent soil erosion; Resinous pustules on the plant contain 'amorpha', a contact and stomachic insecticide that also acts as an insect repellent;
Vegetative Spread Rate [1]  None
Flower Color [1]  Purple
Foliage Color [1]  Green
Fruit Color [1]  Brown
Flower Conspicuous [1]  Yes
Height [2]  3.936 feet (1.2 m)
Width [2]  4.92 feet (1.5 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 3 Low Temperature: -40 F° (-40 C°) → -30 F° (-34.4 C°)
Light Preference [1]  Mostly Shady
Soil Acidity [1]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [1]  Infertile
Water Use [1]  Low
Screening - Summer [1]  Dense
Screening - Winter [1]  Porous
View Plants For A Future Record : Amorpha canescens

Protected Areas

Predators

Zerene cesonia (Dog's head butterfly)[3]

Providers

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 4Robertson, C. Flowers and insects lists of visitors of four hundred and fifty three flowers. 1929. The Science Press Printing Company Lancaster, PA.
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0