False Indigo Bush

Amorpha fruticosa

native · Hill Country

False Indigo Bush is a shrub native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 6–12 ft tall and 12 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and low water, and handles clay soil. Blooms purple in late spring. Deer rarely browse it. Good for butterflies.

Wet ground only. Usually found in wetlands and creek bottoms. It wants reliably moist ground and struggles in a dry upland bed.

Will it grow in your yard?

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The facts

6 sources

Type: Shrub
Sun: Full sun to part shade (4–8 hrs of direct sun)
Water: Low
Height: 6–12 ft
Spread: 12 ft
Bloom: Late Spring · purple
Foliage: Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil: Takes clay · recorded on calcareous, clay, dry, loam, moist, sand
Deer: High — deer rarely browse it
Wildlife: Supports butterflies

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesLimestone Cut PlainSan Antonio Prairie

530 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.