Reprinted with permission from the New Britten 

 and Brown Illustrated Flora of the Northeastern 

 United States and Adjacent Canada, Vol. 2, page 

 409, Copyright 1952, The New York Botanical 

 Garden. 



AMORPHA CANESCENS 

 LEAD PLANT 



Lead Plant is a shrub with few to several, erect or ascending, simple or sparingly branched stems, which are 3-8 dm 

 high. In marginal sites, the plant may die back to near the base each year. The alternate leaves have a short petiole and 

 27-41 narrowly elliptic leaflets, which are 8-15 mm long. Foliage is covered with very dense, short white hairs, giving 

 the plant a hoary appearance. The violet flowers are borne in dense spike-like inflorescences, that are 7-15 cm long and 

 arise on long stems from the leaf axils. Each small flower has a single petal longer than the densely hairy calyx that is 

 ca. 2 mm long. There are 10 orange stamens exserted beyond the petal. The glandular and hairy fruits are ca. 4 mm long 

 and egg-shaped with a long beak. 



Flowering in late June-early July. 



Lead Plant could be confused with members of the genus DALEA or PSORALEA, but these plants are not true shrubs, 

 and they have flowers with more than 1 petal. 



