Amorpha fruticosa

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]

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.

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]

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]

• 'Albiflora', with white flowers
• 'Crispa', with curled leaves
• 'Lewisii', with narrow leaves
• 'Pendula', with arching branches, forming a dome shape