False Indigo-Bush

Amorpha fruticosa

Size: 3 Gallon Availability

Tree
Max size: 12’ tall x 10’ wide
Average size: 8′ tall x 6′ wide

Very Moist, Usually Moist, Moist to Dry, Very Dry
Sand
Full Sun, Part Shade

Also known as: False Indigo, Indigo Bush, Indigo Bush Amorpha

False Indigo has showey flowers that bloom from spring to summer in long purple or blue spikes. During the fall, its leaves turn yellow. It can form small thickets, which makes it useful as a hedge or screen plant. It is the larval host for southern dogface (Zerene cesonia), gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus), and silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus).

Many tribes used various parts of the plant for medicine treating gastric distress, rheumatism, and skin irritants. It gets it’s common name from the ability to use its root to make a blue dye that is often called “dull indigo” or “false indigo”.