A genus of North American shrubby plants in the legume family, often called false indigo.
From Modern Latin amorpha, derived from Greek a- (without) + morphe (form), referring to the unusual flower shape that appears formless compared to typical legumes.
The indigo plant was so important for making blue dye that when botanists found a similar-looking plant with 'weird' flowers, they literally named it 'false indigo'—and gave the plant the name meaning 'formless' because it looked wrong to them.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.