Download 2. Lead Plant - Friess Lake School District

Common Name of Plant: Lead Plant
Scientific Name of Plant: Amorpha Canescens
Average Height of Plant: 1 to 3 feet tall
Blooming Time: June through August
Ask the Botanist
What are the leaves like? These compound leaves have thirteen to twenty pairs of
leaflets that are eight to fifteen cm long. The leaves grow alternately on the stalk of this
prairie shrub. The leaflets have smooth margins, but are covered with white hairs on their
surfaces.
What type of flowers bloom on this plant? The floral spikes are packed with many
purple to deep-blue-petaled, one-fourth-inch flowers that have orange-tipped stamens.
What is unusual about the seedpods or seeds of this plant? Seeds are contained in
dark-brown pods, a few to each pod. Seeds are also covered with white hairs.
How is this plant important to animals? Has it also been used by people? The Native
Americans used this plant for pipe-smoking. A moxa of the twigs was used to treat
neuralgia and rheumatism. A decoction of the root was used to treat stomach pains. The
dried and powdered leaves were applied as a salve to cuts and open wounds. The other
uses include a pleasant-tasting yellow-colored tea, treatment for eczema, the killing of
parasitic pinworms or intestinal worms, oil, soil stabilizer, shelterbelt, repellent, and
insecticide.
Is there anything else unusual about this plant? This is a member of the pea family.
Other names for it are false indigo or prairie shoestring. Native Americans called it buffalo
bellow plant, because it bloomed with the bison were rutting. Early American miners
utilized the lead plant as an indicator because of its very deep tap roots (six to sixteen feet)
to find a vertical crevice in the bedrock.