Index / Search / Amorpha canescens

§1 Plant

Amorpha canescens Pursh

vernacular leadplant — species · Fabaceae


USDA
AMCA6
GBIF
5357388
Rank
species
leadplant (Amorpha canescens)
Platephotograph · Sadie HickeyCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub, Subshrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus
Amorpha
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1 county across 1 state
Legend Native · 1 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Low
Fire
High
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
20–45 in/yr
pH range
5.5–8
Root depth
20 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
4 ft
Height @ 20 y
4 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Purple
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
Medium
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Early Summer
Seed abundance
Low
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
195,333
Propagation
seed, cuttings, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
High
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1 county across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/AMCA6 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5357388 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z