Dark Indigo Bush
Amorpha nitens
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in forests and woodlands; moist forests; streams, rivers and their banks; glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone; glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock; sandhills; floodplain and bottomland forests. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Louisiana. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- Up to about 10 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- April to June
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 2 Louisiana parishes.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock
Open, thin-soil openings, outcrops and cliffs on dark, magnesium- or iron-rich rock such as serpentine, diabase or gabbro.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Who uses this plant?
26CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · Amorpha
- Epargyreus clarusSilver-spotted Skipper
- Achatia distinctaDistinct Quaker
- Agonopterix argillaceaClay-Colored Agonopterix
- Archips argyrospilaFruit-Tree Leafroller Moth
- Automeris ioIo Moth
- Catocala abbreviatellaAbbreviated Underwing
- Catocala amestrisThree-Staff Underwing
- Catocala consorsThe Consort
- Catocala illectaMagdalen Underwing
- Cecropterus lyciadesHoary Edge
Show all 26
- Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
- Dasylophia anguinaBlack-Spotted Prominent
- Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
- Iridopsis ephyrariaPale-Winged Gray
- Lithophane antennataAshen Pinion
- Pandemis limitataThree-Lined Leafroller Moth
- Parectopa robiniellaLocust Digitate Leafminer
- Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Schinia lucensAmorpha Flower Moth, Leadplant Moth, Flase Indigo Flower Moth
- Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
- Uresiphita reversalisGenista Caterpillar, Genista Cbroom Moth
- Zerene cesoniaSouthern Dogface
- Sinoe robiniella
- Sitochroa dasconalis
27BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Amorpha
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
3Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Amorpha
- Andrena cragini
- Colletes susannae
- Hoplitis micheneri
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Flower color
- Purple
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “April to June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 10 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Shining False Indigo Bush
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | SH |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| LA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- Louisiana occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications