Mountain False Indigo

Amorpha glabra Desf. (Tabl. 192; hyponym. 1804); Pers Syn. PI. 2: 295. 1807.
Amorpha montana F. Boynton, Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 138. 1902.
A glabrous shrub, 1-2 m. high; branches rarely with a few short hairs; leaves 7-16 cm. long, often spreading; petioles 2-3 cm. long; leaflets oval, elliptic, or elliptic-ovate, thin, glabrous on both sides, obtuse, rounded, or often emarginate at the apex, rounded or subcordate at the base, 2-5 cm. long, 1-4 cm. broad; petiolules 2-3 mm. long; racemes usually clustered, 6-15 cm. long, glabrous; calyx about 3 mm. long, glabrous except the ciliate margins, which are undulate-toothed, the lobes being very short and broad, obtuse, rounded, or acutish; banner orbicular-spatulate, with a short claw, 7 mm. long, rich-purple; pod 7-8 mm. long, nearly straight on the upper side, light-brown, with a few small glands; seeds elliptic, brown, 4 mm. long.
Type locality: North America.
Distribution: North Carolina. Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia.

Perennial, Shrubs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Plants with rhizomes or suckers, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems 1-2 m tall, Plants turning black on drying, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules inconspicuous, absent, or caducous, Stipules membranous or chartaceous, Stipules setiform, subulate or acicular, Stipules deciduous, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves odd pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets alternate or subopposite, Stipels present at base of leaflets, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Inflorescences raceme s, Inflorescences spikes or spike-like, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx gland-dotted or with glandular spot, Calyx glabrous, Corolla reduced to 1 petal, Petals separate, Petals clawed, Petals pinkish to rose, Petals red, Petals blue, lavander to purple, or violet, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Stamens 9-10, Stamens monadelphous, united below, Stamens long exserted, Filaments glabrous, Anthers versatile, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit indehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit gland-dotted or with gland-tipped hairs, Fruit 1-seeded, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seeds cordiform, mit-shaped, notched at one end, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.