Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Amorpha fruticosa
Species of flowering plant in the pea family From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
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.[3] It is native to North America.
Remove ads
Description
Amorpha fruticosa is a perennial shrub.[4] 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.[5]
Remove ads
Distribution and habitat
The native range extends through much of the United States and south into Mexico.[6] Its native habitats include stream and pond edges, open woods, roadsides and canyons.[4]
The species has escaped cultivation elsewhere and is present as an introduced species in Europe,[7] Asia, and other continents. It is often cultivated as an ornamental plant, and some wild populations may be descended from garden escapes. Invasive in Georgia.
Remove ads
Chemistry
6'-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-12a-hydroxydalpanol, a rotenoid, can be found in the fruits of A. fruticosa.[8] Several members of the amorfrutin class of compounds have been isolated from the fruits.[9] Amorfrutins as well as other secondary metabolites from A. fruticosa have displayed favorable bioactivities counteracting diabetes and the metabolic syndrome.[10]
Ecology
It is a larval host to the clouded sulphur, gray hairstreak, hoary edge, Io moth, marine blue, silver-spotted skipper, and southern dogface.[11] The plentiful seeds are a food source for bobwhite quail. Both bees and butterflies use the flowers as a nectar source.[12]
Cultivars
- 'Albiflora', with white flowers
- 'Crispa', with curled leaves
- 'Lewisii', with narrow leaves
- 'Pendula', with arching branches, forming a dome shape
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads