VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Amorpha canescens | Leadplant 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Leadplant tends to be an incidental or minor component of livestock and
wildlife diet throughout its range [36].  Livestock browse it sparingly
[33].  In some areas it is used only in the spring [30].  In the central
Black Hills, however, Uresk and Lowrey [32] reported a higher percentage
of leadplant in cattle diets in September (1.5%) than in July (0.1%).
In a study of palatability of Black Hills plants for white-tailed deer
[18], leadplant was rated as unpalatable during all months.  This may
have been due to the presence of many other more palatable species [33].


PALATABILITY : 
The degree of use shown by livestock and wildlife species for leadplant
is rated as follows [11]:

                            CO        ND        WY

Cattle                     fair      fair      fair              
Sheep                      fair      fair      fair
Horses                     fair      fair      fair
Pronghorn                  ----      good      poor
Elk                        ----      ----      fair  
Mule deer                  ----      good      fair
White-tailed deer          ----      good      good
Small mammals              ----      ----      poor
Small nongame birds        ----      ----      poor
Upland game birds          ----      ----      poor
Waterfowl                  ----      ----      poor


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Leadplant is rated as fair in both energy and protein value [11].
Nutritient values are as follows [25]:

    FOOD VALUE                             AS FED%         DRY%
    Dry matter                              55.7          100.0
    Ash                                      5.8           10.4
    Crude fiber                             12.0           21.5
    Ether extract                            4.7            8.5
    N-free extract                          28.6           51.4
    Protein (N x 6.25)                       4.6            8.2
         Cattle   digest. protein            2.7            4.9
         Goats    digest. protein            2.3            4.2
         Horses   digest. protein            2.5            4.5
         Rabbits  digest. protein            2.8            5.0
         Sheep    digest. protein            2.6            4.6


COVER VALUE : 
The degree to which leadplant provides environmental protection for
wildlife species is rated as follows [11]:

                            WY             ND   
    Elk                    poor           ----
    Mule deer              poor           fair
    White-tailed deer      poor           fair
    Pronghorn              poor           fair
    Upland game birds      poor           ----
    Waterfowl              poor           ----
    Small nongame birds    fair           ----
    Small mammals          fair           fair


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Leadplant is valuable for erosion control due to its deep, branching
woody root system, and is included in grass seeding mixtures because of
its nitrogen-fixing capability [36].

Treatment is probably not necessary for fall-sown seed; however, stored
seeds have impermeable seedcoats and a high percentage of dormant seed,
necessitating some type of treatment or scarification [10].  Hot water
soaks or cold stratification may reduce seedcoat impermeability and
enhance germination [10,36].  Under laboratory conditions germination
tends to be variable; seeds generally germinate between 6 and 40 days
[10,26,29].  Leadplant seed averages 165,000 seeds per pound, with 29
percent pure live seed, 98 percent purity, and 30 percent or better
germination [37], or about 22,000 usable plants per pound of commercial
seed [10].  Leadplant is a symbiotic nitrogen-fixing species and should
be innoculated with "sp.", the effectively symbiotic innoculant, to
ensure proper growth [11,28].

Several restoration studies suggest that leadplant has only fair
seedling vigor.  Although the plants appear to do well in the
greenhouse, they are too small and delicate to survive harsh conditions
in the field during the first year of growth.  However, 1-year-old
plants which were transplanted from a holding bed the following spring
had good survival rates.  Leadplant also showed a remarkable ability to
resprout after apparent mortality due to water loss [8].

Generally, leadplant grows very slowly compared with other legume
species [36] and must be protected from grazing [34].  This slow growth
may be the result of inadequate innoculation with the proper rhizobium
bacteria [28].  Competition may also contribute to poor seedling
establishment [34].

Transplanting leadplant from natural prairies can be difficult.  Good
transplant success has been obtained using ball and burlap, turf roll,
and peat pot methods [12,34].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Native Americans smoked the dried leaves of leadplant; they also used
leadplant to make tea [30].  It is used as an ornamental because of its
showy flowers.


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Leadplant decreases in response to grazing [16] and is rarely found in
overgrazed habitats [36].  This winter-hardy, drought-tolerant species
is difficult to establish.  Seedlings appear intolerant of competition.
Such competition can, however, be reduced by witholding grazing and
controlling weeds by mowing above the seedling height during
establishment.  Later, to improve production and cover, grazing regimes
should leave high stubble or periodically defer late summer defoliation
until fall dormancy [36].  Under the practice of annual mowing or
browsing which removes the top-growth each year, leadplant produces two
to five or more stems from the crown each spring [19].

Grasshoppers, leafhoppers, and small mammals may reduce stands of
leadplant.  Leafspots, rusts, downy mildew, and Cytospora amorphae have
been reported on plants but are not considered serious [17].

Related categories for Species: Amorpha canescens | Leadplant