Which Way to the Beach?

Here's an interesting find from the beach at Fish Point, Pelee Island back in May.  While my co-workers were scanning the flooded swamps along McCormick Road for a previously reported Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra), I took a stroll on the beach and found myself looking this shrub up and down.

I was really thrown by the buds which at this point kind of resemble a grape (Vitis spp.) or even an elderberry (Sambucus spp.), but clearly neither fit the bill.  It looked so familiar.

Last years' fruits pointed me to the legume family, Fabaceae, which eventually got narrowed down to False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa).  False Indigo isn't common in Southern Ontario and research over the past couple of decades has deemed it an exotic species.  Much of it's northern range is considered naturalized and it can be found throughout the US.  Amorpha is latin for 'without form' attesting to the single-petaled flowers.  The somewhat similar, though much smaller, Leadplant (Amorpha canescens) is a very rare relative found in bur oak savannas in Northwestern Ontario.

Not to come off like John Tesh but there is also ongoing research looking into the use of amorfrutins for the treatment of diabetes.  The more you know.