Shrub · Fabaceae
Leadplant
Amorpha canescens
Leadplant is recorded as native to 18 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 632 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Leadplant at a glance
- Native in
- 632 counties, across 18 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 4 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Leadplant is recorded as native to 18 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 632 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 632 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arkansas 5 counties
- Colorado 5 counties
- Illinois 67 counties
- Indiana 20 counties
- Iowa 28 counties
- Kansas 85 counties
- Michigan 8 counties
- Minnesota 70 counties
- Missouri 96 counties
- Montana 1 county
- Nebraska 60 counties
- New Mexico 13 counties
- North Dakota 31 counties
- Oklahoma 32 counties
- South Dakota 42 counties
- Texas 19 counties
- Wisconsin 47 counties
- Wyoming 3 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 4 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 20 to 45 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 5.5 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 20 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Early Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- Medium
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Fabaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- AMCA6
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Amorpha canescens (PLANTS symbol AMCA6).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources