LEGUMINOSAE 



PULSE FAMILY 



FALSE INDIGO 



Amorpha frnticosa L. 



The False Indigo is a beautiful shrub suitable for ornamental 

 planting. It grows 5-20 feet tall along streams and in other 

 moist places from Pennsylvania to Florida and west to Sas- 

 katchewan and 

 Texas. It is found 

 in some places in the 

 Rocky mountain 

 region. 



The young 

 branches are green- 

 ish and somewhat 

 velvety, becoming 

 gray or brown and 

 smooth as they get 

 older. The 9-25 

 leaflets, usually 

 somewhat hairy un- 

 til mature, have two 

 forms of arrange- 

 ment. Frequently 

 all but the terminal 

 one are opposite in 

 pairs, or they may 

 be alternate as 

 shown. 



The flowers of 

 most members of 



the Pulse family have 5 petals but those of the False Indigo have 

 only I. This single petal is purple and is wrapped around the 

 stamens and pistil. The tunnelform calyx has i; short lobes or 

 teeth, and persists on the fruit. The 10 stamens are united at the 

 very base but are otherwise distinct. The pistil develops into a 

 rather rough i or 2-seeded pod. 



The Lead Plant, Amorpha canesccns Pursh, is also common in 

 Illinois on hills and prairies and along railroads. It is a smaller 

 shrub, 1-3 feet tall, and densely covered ^vith white hairs. The 

 leaflets are smaller and more numerous, being 21-51. The flowers 

 are blue in densely clustered spikes 2-7 inches long. The pod is 

 1-seeded. 



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