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Indigo
Bush
Common
Name(s):
Indigo Bush
Dalea
Desert Beauty
Fremont's indigobush
Fremont Dalea
Scientific
Name:
Psorothamnus
fremontii (Torr. ex Gray) Barneby
Scientific
Name Synonyms:
Dalea fremontii Torr.
ex Gray
Symbol:
PSFR
Description:
Life Span: Perennial
Origin:
Native
Season: Cool
Growth Characteristics:
A
finely branched, small shrub, growing 1 to 4 feet tall.
Flowers/Inflorescence:
Inflorescence
is a raceme about 5 inches in length. Intense, violet-blue flowers.
Fruits/Seeds:
Fruit is a legume.
Leaves: Leaves
numerous, fine textured, and hairy, gray-green in color with very
pale, inconspicuous glands.
Stems: Branch
tips are spiny. Bark is gray-green to white.
Ecological
Adaptations:
Indigo
bush grows on dry hills and in valleys, from elevations of 2000
to 4000 feet.
Soils: Sandy
Associated Species:
Burrobrush,
galleta grass, sand
sagebrush, blackbrush.
Uses and
Management:
Indigo
bush has poor forage value for livestock and wildlife. It is suspected
of being poisonous.
The principal value of this plant is the aesthetic value of its
attractively colored vivid purple flowers. Native Americans used
it as a dye.
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