White false indigo is a North American native. It is also a popular garden plant, and
many cultivars have been created.
Plants: 2-6′ (60-182 cm) in height.
Young plants have thick, pale, glaucous (blue-green) stems topped with emerging leaf clusters, resembling
asparagus.
Leaves: clusters of three (trifoliate): each leaf is ovate or oblanceolate, pointed at
both ends, broader toward the tip, 2-6″ (5-15 cm) in size, on petioles ¼-½″ (6.3-12 mm) long.
Flowers: Pea-like, bilaterally symmetrical, 1″ (2.5 cm) in size, and pure white. Flowers appear in spikes (racemes) 1-2′ (30-60 cm) high.
Flowers appear in April-May.
Fruits: Seed pods are rounded cylinders about ¾″ (1.9 cm) long, green, becoming
purplish black.