# Georgia Indigobush (Amorpha georgiana) > One of the rarest shrubs of the South, a low indigobush of sandy pinelands whose dark purple spring spikes bristle with orange-tipped stamens. Also called Georgia leadplant, Georgia false indigo. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/georgia-indigobush/ ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 1 to 3 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 8 to 9 - Grows wild in: Sandy barrens, stream banks, old fields and edges - Native range: Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina - Sun: Full, Part - Soil moisture: Average, Wet - Growth rate: Slow - Traits: Rare, Showy flowers, Nitrogen fixing, Tolerates wet soil, Wildlife value - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Georgia indigobush is a low, woody plant of the Coastal Plain of the Carolinas and Georgia, where it grows in longleaf pine woods and on sandy river terraces. Each leaf carries up to 47 small leaflets, each rolled under at the edge and ending in a tiny point. NatureServe ranks it critically imperiled, with about 16 wild populations left. Georgia and North Carolina list it as endangered. Plant it in a sunny, sandy bed of native grasses and wildflowers, where nothing taller shades it out. ## Size, growth and what to expect No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as a slow grower, like our leadplant, about a foot a year. It makes a woody plant 1 to 3 feet tall with smooth stems, and it spreads by underground stems into patches. Its leaves run up to 7 inches long. Spikes up to about 3 inches long open from mid April into early May. Each small flower has one dark purple petal and ten stamens tipped in orange. Like other amorphas, it bears pods under a quarter inch long that usually hold a single seed. They ripen light brown in mid to late summer, and some stay on until the next April. It grows wild only on the Coastal Plain of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Its home is sandy river terraces, pine flatwoods and savannas, and sunny clearings. Most of its wild populations are in North Carolina, and fire suppression and pine plantations threaten them. ## How to grow Georgia Indigobush Georgia indigobush wants full sun or light shade and a sandy soil that stays moist but drains. In the wild it grows on river terraces that flood now and then, and in pine woods kept open by fire. Taller shrubs crowd it out, so give it an open spot. Set plants 3 feet apart and 3 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch thin and clear of the stems. Seed has a hard coat that the heat of a fire opens in the wild. Rub the seed out of its pod, then soak it briefly in water just off the boil. Sow it about a quarter inch deep in spring. Water weekly through the first summer. Deer and other browsers eat the leaves, which are rich in protein, so cage young plants where deer are common. Keep taller neighbors cut back so it stays in sun. Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. Pearl crescent butterflies and other insects visit the flowers. In the wild it flowers and fruits in the first and second years after a fire, and it dwindles where fire is kept out. It can cross with clusterspike indigobush where the two grow together. ## Sources - [NatureServe Explorer: Amorpha georgiana, Georgia Leadplant](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.158597/Amorpha_georgiana) - [Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Biodiversity Portal: Amorpha georgiana, Georgia Indigo-bush (Linda G. Chafin, 2007, updated January 2020)](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=16161) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Amorpha georgiana, Georgia False Indigo](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=AMGE) - [Kunz, Wall and Hohmann 2020, The role of fruits and fires in the germination of a rare subshrub, Amorpha georgiana (Fabaceae), Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 147(4): 316-326](https://doi.org/10.3159/TORREY-D-19-00046.1) - [Straub and Doyle 2009, Conservation genetics of Amorpha georgiana (Fabaceae), an endangered legume of the Southeastern United States, Molecular Ecology 18: 4349-4365](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04353.x) - [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ECOS: Georgia lead-plant, Amorpha georgiana var. georgiana](https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/1906) - [North Carolina Natural Heritage Program: 2024 Rare Plant List, revised 11/03/2025](https://www.ncnhp.org/media/833/open) - [Georgia Biodiversity Portal, rare plants table exported July 7, 2026](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/table/plants) - [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Amorpha georgiana, AMGE](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/AMGE) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Amorpha chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Amorpha.pdf) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md) - [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md) - [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Georgia Indigobush, add ?species=georgia-indigobush with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=georgia-indigobush&zone=8&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Georgia Indigobush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=georgia-indigobush): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=georgia-indigobush - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Georgia Indigobush is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=georgia-indigobush - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Georgia Indigobush needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=georgia-indigobush:1 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Georgia Indigobush flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.