Amorpha nitens
Origin: Alabama
Improvement status: Wild
Seeds per packet: ~20
BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED
Life cycle: Perennial
Shining False Indigo is the shiny-leafed cousin of the more common leadplant and river locust, native to the south-central US. While the plant may be useful as a dye plant, insecticide, and possibly medicine, like its cousins, very little research has been done on this plant. It has striking purple and orange flower spikes that are beloved by pollinators. This nitrogen-fixing perennial shrub prefers moist environments.
Our seeds were collected by EFN co-founder Nate Kleinman and our beloved colleagues Bonnetta Adeeb and Fatimah Hassan of Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance along the Little Cahaba River in Bibb County, Alabama, during a brief excursion between meetings during the annual Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund conference in the summer of 2024.
GROWING TIPS: Little is written about germinating this species, but they likely benefit from 24-hour soaking followed by cold-moist stratification for 30 days to break dormancy. Alternatively, you might try pouring near-boiling water over the seeds, then soaking overnight, before sowing. Seeds may take up to three weeks or longer to sprout. Prefers a moist environment, so keep well watered.
NOTE: The two photos of the plant with pods were taken by Nate and show the actual plants these seeds came from. The photo of the plant in bloom comes from an Arkansas population and was taken by Eric Hunt. It has been cropped to focus on the flowers and is shared here under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
