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Index / Search / Amorpha fruticosa

§1 Plant

Amorpha fruticosa L.

vernacular false indigo bush — species · Fabaceae

USDA
AMFR
GBIF
5357407
Rank
species
false indigo bush (Amorpha fruticosa)
Platephotograph · Peter MayCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus
Amorpha
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1,298 counties across 45 states/territories
Legend Native · 1298 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Low
Fire
Low
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
Low
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
10–65 in/yr
pH range
5–8.5
Root depth
24 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
15 ft
Height @ 20 y
6 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Purple
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
Medium
Toxicity
Slight
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Rapid
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
77,000
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1,298 counties across 45 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 42 N ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 12 N ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 63 N ▾
California view state ↗ 5 N ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 15 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 1 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Florida view state ↗ 53 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 44 N ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 11 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 84 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 20 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 25 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 93 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 55 N ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 46 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 12 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 5 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 56 N ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 55 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 106 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 55 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 3 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 18 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 14 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 19 N ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 32 N ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 15 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 17 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 52 N ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 17 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 1 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 30 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 23 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 41 N ▾
Texas view state ↗ 76 N ▾
Utah view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 5 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Washington view state ↗ 14 N ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 21 N ▾
Wyoming view state ↗ 4 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/AMFR ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5357407 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z