Amorpha californica is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name California false indigo.
| Amorpha californica | |
|---|---|
| |
| var. californica | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Amorpha |
| Species: | A. californica
|
| Binomial name | |
| Amorpha californica | |
It is native to California, Arizona, and northern Baja California, where it grows in the California chaparral and woodlands and other chaparral and oak woodlands habitats. It is generally considered an understory plant.[2]
Description
editAmorpha californica is a glandular, thorn-less shrub with leaves made up of spiny, oval-shaped leaflets each tipped with a resin gland. The scattered inflorescences are spike-like racemes of flowers, each flower with a single violet petal and ten protruding stamens. The fruit is a legume pod containing usually a single seed.
Subspecies
editThe standard variety is Amorpha californica var. californica. Amorpha california var. napensis is a rare plant; it only grows around San Francisco and in the North Coast Ranges.[3]
Butterflies
editThe endemic California dogface butterfly larvae feed on Amorpha californica, along with the Southern dogface and the silver-spotted skipper.[2]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Contu, S. (2012). "Amorpha californica". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 208. IUCN. e.T19892228A20005262. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T19892228A20005262.en.
- ^ a b "California False Indigo, Amorpha californica". calscape.org. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
- ^ "Amorpha californica var. napensis". ucjeps.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
External links
edit
- Jepson Manual Treatment - Amorpha californica
- USDA Plants Profile: Amorpha californica
- "Amorpha californica". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
- Amorpha californica - U.C. Photo gallery
- "Amorpha californica". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- The complete chloroplast genome of the threatened Napa False Indigo Amorpha californica var. napensis Jeps. 1925 (Fabaceae) from Northern California, USA
- Wilbur, Robert L. “A REVISION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN GENUS AMORPHA (LEGUMINOSAE-PSORALEAE).” Rhodora, vol. 77, no. 811, 1975, pp. 337–409. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23311397. Accessed 1 Sep. 2022.
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