Amorpha californica

California false indigo

Family: Fabaceae · Type: shrub · Native

California false indigo is a California native shrub found in central and northern California coastal ranges and Sierra Nevada foothills in chaparral and woodlands at elevations of 300 to 1,600 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces purple flowers in dense, elongated racemes. Growing to 1 to 3 meters tall with multiple upright to spreading branches, it forms a dense, somewhat irregular shrub structure. Its pinnate leaves feature numerous small leaflets with distinctive glandular midribs, each leaflet marked by tiny head-like glands less than half a millimeter wide. The shrub develops clusters of small, dark purple flowers concentrated at the tips of its branches, creating a striking visual display against its dense green foliage.

California counties: San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside, Orange, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Placer, San Luis Obispo, Shasta, El Dorado, Sonoma, Butte, Sutter, Yolo, Monterey

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.