Amorpha canescens Pursh

Leadplant (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Amorpha

Characteristics

Shrub 5–10 dm, erect or ascending, simple or sparingly branched, ordinarily closely canescent throughout; petioles 1–3 mm; lfls crowded, 13–20 pairs, 1–2 cm, inconspicuously or scarcely punctate; racemes usually clustered in groups of 5–20+, the terminal one 5–15 cm, the others shorter; cal-lobes lanceolate, subequal, mostly 1–1.5 mm, half to two-thirds as long as the tube; banner 4.5–6 mm; fr canescent, 4 mm; 2n=20. Dry prairies and sandy open woods; s. Mich. to Minn. and Sask., s. to Ill., Mo., Ark., Tex., and N.M. June, July. The rare hybrid with no. 4 [Amorpha fruticosa L.] is A. ×notha E. J. Palmer.
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A deciduous shrub. It grows 90 cm high and spreads 90 cm wide. The leaves are made up of leaflets along the stalk. The leaves are grey-green and the twigs are hairy. The flowers are crowded on one side of the stalk. They are purple or blue. The fruit are seed pods.
Life form perennial
Growth form shrub
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.7 - 1.0
Mature height (meter) 0.85 - 1.0
Root system tap-root
Rooting depth (meter) 1.3
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A cool temperate plant. It suits hardiness zones 2-9.
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Dry sandy prairies, glades, hills and open woodland.
Light 3-8
Soil humidity 1-4
Soil texture 4-6
Soil acidity 3-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 4-7

Usage

The dried leaves are used for tea.
Uses animal food beverage environmental use medicinal smoking tea
Edible leaves
Therapeutic use Anthelmintic (leaf), Dermatological Aid (leaf), Analgesic (root), Gastrointestinal Aid (root), Analgesic (unspecified), Antirheumatic (External) (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seed or cuttings.
Mode cuttings seedlings suckers
Germination duration (days) 29 - 74
Germination temperacture (C°) 10 - 15
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment soaking
Minimum temperature (C°) -29
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Amorpha canescens leaf picture by Danilo Diedrichs (cc-by-sa)
Amorpha canescens leaf picture by Jennifer Scheidegger (cc-by-sa)
Amorpha canescens leaf picture by John Ear (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Amorpha canescens flower picture by Danilo Diedrichs (cc-by-sa)
Amorpha canescens flower picture by Ryan Heaney (cc-by-sa)
Amorpha canescens flower picture by T H (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Amorpha canescens fruit picture by Shuji Usui (cc-by-sa)
Amorpha canescens fruit picture by Shuji Usui (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Amorpha canescens world distribution map, present in Canada and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60431313-2
WFO ID wfo-0000178822
COL ID CX46
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Amorpha brachycarpa Amorpha canescens f. glabrata Amorpha canescens f. canescens Amorpha canescens var. leptostachya Amorpha canescens var. glabrata Amorpha canescens var. typica Amorpha canescens