Amorpha Species, Bastard Indigo, False Indigo, River Locust

I have had a False Indigo bush in my front yard (zone 9B) for five years or more. It grows readily in plain, Florida sand, blooms reliab...Read Morely, and attracts several varieties of butterflies. I have been rewarded with crowds of little Gray hairstreaks, for which it is a host plant. What a joy! I have only good things to say about this delightful plant. Plant Dolly in Orange City FL

Im my zone 8 garden in Holland this is a nice shrub (1,5 meter, 3 years after sowing). Leaves late to emerge, but the foliage is very nic...Read Moree and the flowers are small but stand out. Dark purple with orange tips. Never seen a catterpillar here on it, but bees drown in it. Gave some seedlings to friends for container-gardening and those are doing well too. (although staying smaller) Not my intention to create an invasion of this in the Netherlands ;-) it seems to behave well here.

I grew plants in Tallahassee, FL from seed collected near the Chipola river in Marianna (Jackson County) FL. They are slow-growing, but h...Read Moreave very attractive form, and the flowers are of a dark purple color you rarely see. This is one of the few natives I have grown from seed that really works well as an ornamental. Mine are full of Silver-Spotted Skipper caterpillars, which make shelters from the leaflets, and come out at night to feed.

Class B noxious weed in Washington, banned in Connecticut

A good DG friend gave me one of these plants last year and I loved it so much I bought several more. I knew they were a host plant for S...Read Moreouthern Dogface and Silver-spotted Skipper butterflies. Happily, I was able to raise a brood of the Skippers. Hopefully will get the Dogface this year.
The blooms are beginning to emerge now in early April and they are so amazing to watch developing! I get the name of them now A-MORPH-a... fruiticosa. Just as fascinating as the butterflies they support.

Indigo Bush, False Indigo, Bastard Indigo, River Locust Amorpha fruticosa is native to Texas and other States.

I grew these trees from seeds that a friend gave me. They germinated easily, but have been fairly slow growing. I have some of the tree...Read Mores in sun and some in shade. Those in sun are tallest, but still only about 6 ft tall after about 3 years of growth. I prune them regularly to keep them into a compact shape. They have a nice, light, "feathery" leaf structure, somewhat similar to a Mimosa or Cassia in leaf shape and position. The flowers are similar to Bottle Brush (Callistemon) flowers, but greatly reduced in size. The color combination of the flowers, very dark purple with a pin head sized tip of nearly fluorescent orange, is very striking!

This is a shrub that can grow as tall as 20 feet in height and its width is typically twice its height.Usually in urban conditions stays ...Read Morearound 10 to 12 feet.The branches are firm and woody and the twigs are green and hairy.The leaves have 13 to 25 leaflets each.The leaflets are 1 to 2 inches long,resinous,dotted and hairy and are medium green. The fragrant,deep purple spikes with orange center flowers bloom June through July.The fruit is about 1/4 inch long, green and turns to brown,and contains 2 seeds each.