Leadplant Amorpha canescens
Other
name: Prairie Shoestring
Description:
Leadplant is also known as Prairie Shoestring because of its deep roots
which often penetrate to depths of fifteen feet or more. The name leadplant is
given because of the plants lead-gray foliage. It is a warm season or summer
perennial, somewhat shrubby, belonging to the Leguminosae,
or legume family. Leadplant reaches a height of some 80 to 100 cm. It is one of
the four true prairie shrubs.
Leaf: The alternative leaves are divided into many
tiny leaflets that are arranged on opposite sides of the leaf stems. The
lead-gray color of the leaflets is due to a covering of fine, gray hairs.
Flower: Leadplant’s tiny, purple, single-petaled
flowers with yellow stamens are in dense spikes that have violet-gray ends. The
fruit is a purple pod.
Blooming months: June -July
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Discussion: Leadplant is one of the most abundant upland herbs of prairie and closely associated throughout the prairies with the bluestem grasses. Like other legumes, the deep roots help break up the clay subsoil and contain the bacteria that enables nitrogen to be in a usable form in the soil. The plant is highly nutritious and palatable. Its leaves were dried by early Native Americans and used for tea, a yellow dye, and also for smoking. Parts of the plant have been used in folk medicine. Pioneers believed leadplant was an indicator of lead ore because of the plant’s lead-gray color. Because of its long, stringy roots, Leadplant is also called Prairie Shoestring. Hand collected seeds can be germinated by weakening the seed coat. In restoration of prairie, the presence of this species is one of importance.
Distribution:
Leadplant grows in sand prairies, hill prairies, and gravel-hill
prairies. This species ranges from
Native
or Introduced to
Location:
N41048.677’ W089040.972’
Copyright:
© 2004 Nancy Trainor,
References:
Keller, Carolyn. Prairie Plants of
Ladd, Doug. Tall grass Prairie Wildflowers, The Nature Conservancy, 1995.
Peterson, Roger Tory. Wildflowers
Northeastern/North Central
Mohlenbroch, Robert H., and John W. Voigt. Prairie Plants
of
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