Wikimedia Commons
Fabaceae
Lead Plant
Amorpha canescens
Endurance, deep roots, prairie soul.
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Genus
- Amorpha
- Native to
- Central North America (prairies)
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Type
- Subshrub
- Height
- 30–90 cm (1–3 ft)
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Dry, sandy, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Hardiness
- 2–8
- Lifespan
- Long-lived perennial
Did you know
- Lead plant gets its name from its silvery-gray leaves, which look as if they've been dusted with lead powder—a survival adaptation that reflects sun and prevents water loss.
- Its roots can reach 16 feet deep into the prairie soil, anchoring it through the worst droughts and earning it Native American names like 'buffalo-bellow plant' (it blooms during the buffalo rut).
- The Omaha and Ponca peoples brewed lead plant tea as a treatment for pinworms, eczema, and rheumatism, and dried the leaves for ceremonial smoking.
- Each tiny purple flower has only one petal (highly unusual for a legume) plus 10 long protruding stamens with bright orange anthers—creating a fuzzy, glowing flower spike.
- Pioneers called lead plant 'devil's shoestrings' because its roots were so deep and tough they would snap a plow share—a major obstacle to breaking the tallgrass prairie.
Color meanings
0
endurance
1
deep roots
2
prairie soul