Plant · P-067

Indigobush

Amorpha fruticosa

Indigobush is a nitrogen-fixing shrub that roots deeply enough to hold a stream bank, pond edge or the toe of a berm while it feeds the soil around it. Deep violet-purple flower spikes with orange anthers bloom from April to June, feeding bees and butterflies and hosting several skipper and dogface caterpillars. Its stems yield a blue dye and a natural insecticide, but its seed floats on floodwater and roots sucker readily, so it forms dense thickets fast and should be planted where that spread is wanted. Reported alkaloids make it unsafe to graze, so keep it out of reach of livestock.