About
Find Nurseries
Design & Inspiration
California Garden Planner
Bay Area Garden Planner (NEW)
Planting Guide
Butterflies
My Plant Lists
Contact Us
Sign In
Donate
Advanced Search
Contact Us
Sign In
Donate
Home
Advanced Search
Map Locator
View Settings
Nurseries Carrying this Plant
Add Current Plant To List
Edit Current Plant
Show all Photos
About Calscape
Nurseries
California Garden Planner
Bay Area Garden Planner (NEW)
Planting Guide
Butterflies
My Plant Lists
Contact Calscape
Donate
Tap map to see plants native to location
Print Plant Signs
Print Plant Labels
Export To Excel
Export To Excel (Detailed)
Order by Popularity
Order by Common Name
Order by Scientific Name
Order by # of Butterflies Hosted
Show nursery cultivars
Hide nursery cultivars
Show plants not in nurseries
Hide plants not in nurseries
Grid view
Text view
Home
>
All plants
for California
>
Amorpha californica
|
Previous
Next
Loading....
Processing the request......
California False Indigo
( Amorpha californica )
Amorpha californica
More Photos at CalPhotos
More Info at Jepson eFlora
Calflora
Click on blue squares to see occurrence records.
<< Plant species
Zoom To My Address
Zoom To California
Estimated Plant Range (
?
)
occurrences >>
All Occurrence Records
4 Nurseries Carry This Plant
Add to My Plant List
About California False Indigo (Amorpha californica)
4 Nurseries Carry This Plant
Add to My Plant List
Amorpha californica
is a species of flowering plant in the Fabaceae (Legume) family known by the common name California False Indigo. It is native to California, Arizona, and northern Baja California, where it grows in chaparral and woodland habitat. This is a hairy, thornless shrub with leaves made up of spiny, oval-shaped leaflets each tipped with a resin gland. The scattered flower clusters are spike-like racemes of flowers, each flower with a single purple petal and ten protruding stamens. The fruit is a legume pod containing usually a single seed. There are two recognized Varieties: Var. californica is the more common; var. napensis is a rare plant found only in a few counties north of San Francisco. This species is somewhat neater in appearance than its close cousin,
Amorpha fruticosa
, which is more common in San Diego, Orange and Riverside Counties. The Amorpha genus is host to the California Dogface Butterfly, the official state butterfly. This species is said to be somewhat difficult in cultivation and is more often used in restoration projects.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Shrub
Size
10 ft tall
6 ft wide
Dormancy
Winter Deciduous
Fragrance
Fragrant - Pleasant
Flower Color
Purple
Flowering Season
Spring, Summer
Wildlife Supported
Various insects, including butterflies, and hummingbirds
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 5
confirmed
, 7
likely
* )
SHOW ALL
Southern Dogface
Zerene cesonia
Zerene cesonia
Silver-Spotted Skipper
Epargyreus clarus
Epargyreus clarus
Marine Blue
Leptotes marina
Leptotes marina
California Dogface
Zerene eurydice
Zerene eurydice
Northern Cloudywing
Thorybes pylades
Thorybes pylades
*
Gray Hairstreak
Strymon melinus
Strymon melinus
*
Genista Caterpillar
Uresiphita reversalis
Uresiphita reversalis
Landscaping Information
Sun
Part Shade
Moisture
Very Low
Summer Irrigation
Max 1x / month once established
Nurseries
Carried by 4
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to 0° F
Soil Drainage
Fast, Medium
Soil Description
Tolerates sand. Soil PH: 6.0 - 8.0
Common uses
Hedges, Deer Resistant, Butterfly Gardens
Companion Plants
Use as an understory for
Oak
s (
Quercus sp.
),
Ponderosa Pine
(
Pinus ponderosa
), Madrone (
Arbutus menziesii
),
Incense Cedar
(
Calocedrus decurrens
),
Tanoak
(
Notholithocarpus densiflorus
), Bay Laurel (
Umbellularia californica
) and other trees. Companion shrubs can include Manzanita (
Arctostaphylos sp.
),
Ceanothus sp.
,
Ocean Spray
(
Holodiscus discolor
), Currant/
Gooseberry
(
Ribes sp.
), and
Snowberry
(
Symphoricarpos sp.
)
Propagation
?
For propagating by seed: Fresh seeds, no treatment; scarification may improve germination of stored seeds.
Natural Setting
Site Type
Wooded, shrubby, or open slopes primarily in the Coast Ranges and Transverse Range below 7,500 ft.
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 6.0" - 68.9", Summer Precipitation: 0.15" - 2.89", Coldest Month: 32.5" - 58.2", Hottest Month: 59.0" - 86.9", Humidity: 0.43" - 37.48", Elevation: 9" - 8222"
Print Plant Sign
Print Plant Label
Back
Print
Back
Print
California False Indigo
Amorpha californica
Sources include:
Wikipedia
. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the
California Consortia of Herbaria
, Sunset information provided by
Jepson Flora Project
. Propogation from seed information provided by the
Santa Barbara Botanical Garden
from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include
CalPhotos
,
Wikimedia Commons
, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include
Calflora
,
CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online
,
Jepson Flora Project
,
Las Pilitas
,
Theodore Payne
,
Tree of Life
,
The Xerces Society
, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from
PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University
, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.
Links:
Jepson eFlora Taxon Page
CalPhotos
Wikipedia
Calflora
Sign in to your Calscape Account
X
Once signed in, you'll be able to access any previously saved plant lists or create new ones.
Email Address
Password
Sign In