North Carolina Wildflowers, Shrubs, & Trees

by Jeffrey S. Pippen | Back to Jeff's Plant Page | Jeff's Nature Pages


Fabaceae > Amorpha

Tall Indigo-bush (Amorpha fruticosa) Desert False Indigo, Tall Indigo-bush (Amorpha fruticosa)
Brunswick Co., NC
13 Aug 2006

Native and uncommon but widespread in varied habitats in NC, Desert False Indigo is considered to be an introduced invasive in much of the western U.S.

Tall Indigo-bush (Amorpha fruticosa) Desert False Indigo, Tall Indigo-bush (Amorpha fruticosa)
Brunswick Co., NC
13 Aug 2006

Orange anthers emerging from purple flowers is a distinctive look! The flowers are unusual in that they are in the pea family, but have only one petal that wraps around the other flower parts.

Tall Indigo-bush (Amorpha fruticosa) Desert False Indigo, Tall Indigo-bush (Amorpha fruticosa)
Weedy open area in bottomland near a creek in Durham Co., NC
14 Oct 2008

Amorpha fruticosa tends to have an loose, open look. Here it is in fruit in the fall.

Tall Indigo-bush (Amorpha fruticosa) Desert False Indigo, Tall Indigo-bush (Amorpha fruticosa)
Weedy open area in bottomland near a creek in Durham Co., NC
14 Oct 2008

Fruits are very tiny legumes with a warty appearance and contain just one to two seeds.

Tall Indigo-bush (Amorpha fruticosa) Desert False Indigo, Tall Indigo-bush (Amorpha fruticosa)
Weedy open area in bottomland near a creek in Durham Co., NC
14 Oct 2008

Tall Indigo-bush is a nice native shrub with showy flowers and unusual fruits to use in your landscaping in the southeastern US.


Annotated habitat and distribution information listed above is from Radford, Ahles, & Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. UNC Press; and from personal observations and discussions with Will Cook, Harry LeGrand, and Bob Wilbur. Common names from personal experience and supplemented by the following resources USDA plants website, Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia, and NatureServe.


Back to Jeff's Plant Page | Jeff's Butterfly Page | Jeff's Nature Page

Created on ... Aug 23, 2006 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com