Amorpha fruticosa | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Faboideae |
Genus: | Amorpha |
Species: | A. fruticosa
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Binomial name | |
Amorpha fruticosa | |
Synonyms | |
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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.[2] It is native to North America.
Amorpha fruticosa is a perennial shrub.[3] It grows as a glandular, thornless shrub which can reach 5 or 6 m (16 or 20 ft) 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 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.[4]
The native range extends through much of the United States and south into Mexico.[5] Its native habitats include stream and pond edges, open woods, roadsides and canyons.[3]
The species has escaped cultivation elsewhere and is present as an introduced species in Europe,[6] Asia, and other continents. It is often cultivated as an ornamental plant, and some wild populations may be descended from garden escapes.
6'-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-12a-hydroxydalpanol, a rotenoid, can be found in the fruits of A. fruticosa.[7] Several members of the amorfrutin class of compounds have been isolated from the fruits.[8] Amorfrutins as well as other secondary metabolites from A. fruticosa have displayed favorable bioactivities counteracting diabetes and the metabolic syndrome.[9]
It is a larval host to the clouded sulphur, gray hairstreak, hoary edge, Io moth, marine blue, silver-spotted skipper, and southern dogface.[10] The plentiful seeds are a food source for bobwhite quail. Both bees and butterflies use the flowers as a nectar source.[11]