false indigo

American  

noun

1. any of several North American shrubs belonging to the genus Amorpha, of the legume family, especially A. fruticosa, having compound leaves with pinnate leaflets and long, dense clusters of purplish flowers.

2. any of various plants belonging to the genus Baptisia, of the legume family, native to North America, as B. australis, having trifoliate leaves and long clusters of purplish-blue flowers.

---

Example Sentences

Baptisia — or false indigo — a native perennial that functions more as a small shrub, is coming into flower now, before you are quite ready for it.

From Washington Post

The false indigo, or baptisia, is a shrublike perennial that blooms in late spring but has extraordinary purple-black leaves as it ends the year.

From Washington Post

Lawns are swaths of empty space where blue false indigo and wild columbine and white penstemon might otherwise grow and provide pollen to the creatures that carry it around and make other things grow.

From Washington Times

No plant exemplifies the garden’s constancy better than a May-flowering perennial named false indigo, or baptisia.

From Washington Post

One example is the Decadence series of false indigo, which grows to just three feet, about two-thirds the size of the species plant, Baptisia australis.

From Washington Post