Hi, Dr. Hill,
This plant was growing in dappled shade along a busy road in the countryside in the Piedmont region on June 3. Is it a native or could it have escaped from a garden? Thank you in advance.
Diane
Hi Diane,
this is one of our natives called Clusterspike false indigo, Amorpha herbacea. It has a narrow distribution in 3 or 4 southeastern states, and is closely related to Amorpha canescens, found in the Midwest prairies. A very attractive native plant found in our piedmont, and it is mostly a coastal plain plant in North Carolina.
Sincerely,
Steve Hill, Botanist, SCNPS