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Amorpha nana Nutt.

Modern name

Amorpha nana Nutt.

Synonyms

A. microphylla Pursh

A low, deciduous shrub about 2 ft high; stems branching, and having little or no down. Leaves pinnate, 2 to 4 in. long, with eight to thirteen pairs of leaflets and an odd one; leaflets 18 to 38 in. long, oval or obovate, nearly glabrous. Flowers purple, fragrant, very closely set in cylindrical terminal racemes 1 to 2 in. long. Pod one-seeded, 15 in. long, glandular.

Native of eastern and central N. America; introduced in 1811. Although some­what similar to A. canescens in foliage, it is really very distinct. It is a true shrub, and has little or none of the grey down so conspicuous in A. canescens; its flower-spikes are also much shorter and not clustered. A rather dainty plant, but scarcely known in gardens nowadays.


Genus

Amorpha

Other species in the genus