- Family:
- Fabaceae Lindl.
Clitoria L.

[FZ]
Leguminosae, B. Mackinder, R. Pasquet, R. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora Zambesiaca 3:5. 2001
- Morphology General Habit
- Trailing, climbing or erect herbs, shrubs or small trees.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves pinnately 3–9-foliolate, rarely 1-foliolate; stipels present or absent.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescences few-flowered in racemes, or flowers axillary, solitary or paired; upper pair of bracts connate; bracteoles large.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx 5-lobed, upper pair of lobes joined only at the base.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla large, often resupinate; standard much exceeding the other petals, often pubescent outside.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Vexillary filament free or joined to the others at the base.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
- Ovary stipitate, 2–many-ovuled; style elongate, curved, bearded and slightly widened towards the terminal stigma.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Pod linear-oblong, compressed or convex, dehiscent, with or without longitudinal ribs.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds variously coloured, oblong-ellipsoid, compressed, with a central to excentric hilum and a persistent white rim aril and funicular remnant.
[FSOM]
M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS
- Morphology General Habit
- Climbing or erect herbs or shrubs
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves pinnately (1–)3–9-foliolate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescences few-flowered racemes, or flowers axillary, solitary or paired; bracteoles large
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx 5-lobed
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Standard large, much exceeding the other petals
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
- Style bearded inside at the slightly dilated apex
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Pod linear-oblong, compressed.
- Distribution
- Some 60-70 species in the tropics and subtropics of both hemispheres.
[FTEA]
Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971
- Morphology General Habit
- Climbing or erect herbs or shrubs, rarely trees
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves pinnately 3–9-foliolate, more rarely 1-foliolate; stipules and stipels present
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescences few-flowered, racemose, or flowers axillary, solitary or paired, sometimes on the old wood; upper pairs of bracts connate; bracteoles large
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx 5-lobed, upper pair of lobes joined only at the base
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla large, white, red or blue; standard large, much exceeding the other petals, rounded, erect, emarginate, without appendages
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Vexillary stamen free or ± joined to the bundle; anthers almost uniform or 5 dorsifixed alternating with 5 subbasifixed
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
- Ovary stipitate, 2-many-ovuled
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
- Style elongated, incurved, bearded inside at the slightly dilated apex; stigma terminal
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Cleistogamous flowers occur in some species
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Pod linear-oblong, compressed, sometimes longitudinally ribbed, filled with soft tissue but not septate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds subglobose or ellipsoid, compressed; hilum small, central or subcentral; aril not developed.
[LOWO]
Legumes of the World. Edited by G. Lewis, B. Schrire, B. MacKinder & M. Lock. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (2005)
- Habit
- Shrubs, lianas, herbs and trees
- Ecology
- Seasonally dry to wet tropical lowland and montane forest, woodland or scrubland and wooded grassland
- Distribution
- S America, C America, Caribbean and Mexico (c. 48 spp., centred in northern S America), Africa (4 spp.), Madagascar (2 spp.), Indian subcontinent (1 sp.), Indo-China, China, Malesia (6 spp.), Australia (1 sp.)
- Note
-
Subtribe Clitoriinae, based on the bulk of molecular evidence to date, holds a basally branching position between the millettioid and phaseoloid clades
Previous accounts of the Phaseoleae by Baudet (1978) and Lackey (1981) recognised 90 and 84 genera and c. 1540 and 1480 species respectively in the tribe. In an equivalent, i.e. traditionally held view of Phaseoleae, 89 genera and (1554)–1567–(1580) species are treated here (Table 9; Fig. 47). Changes between Baudet (1978) and this treatment are that eleven genera are now in synonymy or have subsequently been placed in Millettieae, two genera have been transferred from Desmodieae and eight new genera have been added. Vigna has traditionally been thought to comprise some 150–200 species, but Vigna sens. strict. may contain fewer than 100.
Recent molecular analyses of the tribe, however, have emphasised both the polyphyletic and paraphyletic nature of Phaseoleae as traditionally circumscribed (Bruneau & Doyle, 1990; Doyle & Doyle, 1993; Delgado Salinas et al., 1993; Bruneau et al., 1995; Doyle et al., 1997, 2000; Kajita et al., 2001; Goel et al., 2001; Lee & Hymowitz, 2001). This has required a radical realignment of elements of the phaseoloids (Table 9; Fig. 47), with at least two major clades being evident: Phaseoleae subtribes Diocleinae and Ophrestiinae which together with tribe Abreae are allied to the core-Millettieae (Fig. 45), and the remaining groups comprising a Phaseoleae sens. lat. clade. The rbcL phylogeny of Kajita et al. (2001) and the ITS analysis of Hu et al. (2002) are equivocal as to which clade subtribe Clitoriinae belongs. Phaseoleae sens. lat. also includes two traditionally independent tribes, the Desmodieae and Psoraleeae. Delimiting a recircumscribed Phaseoleae sens. strict is thus very problematic. A solution may be to recognise a broad tribe Phaseoleae, comprising the subtribes Kennediinae, Cajaninae, Phaseolinae and Glycininae, assorted basally branching genera, and tribes Desmodieae and Psoraleeae (both treated at subtribal level).
Native to:
Alabama, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Arizona, Arkansas, Assam, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Caprivi Strip, Central African Repu, China South-Central, China Southeast, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cuba, Delaware, District of Columbia, Dominican Republic, East Himalaya, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Florida, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Guyana, Hainan, Honduras, Illinois, India, Indiana, Iowa, Jawa, Kansas, Kentucky, Kenya, Laos, Leeward Is., Louisiana, Madagascar, Maine, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Carolina, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Oklahoma, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Réunion, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Dakota, Sudan, Suriname, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tennessee, Texas, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad-Tobago, Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virginia, West Himalaya, West Virginia, Western Australia, Windward Is., Wisconsin, Yemen, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Introduced into:
Aldabra, Andaman Is., Aruba, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Canary Is., Caroline Is., Cayman Is., Chad, Christmas I., Cook Is., Egypt, Fiji, Galápagos, Gilbert Is., Haiti, Hawaii, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Laccadive Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Malaya, Maldives, Marianas, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Niger, Pakistan, Philippines, Queensland, Seychelles, Society Is., Solomon Is., Southwest Caribbean, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Tonga, Tubuai Is., Venezuelan Antilles
- Clitoria amazonum Mart. ex Benth.
- Clitoria andrei Fantz
- Clitoria annua J.Graham
- Clitoria arborea Benth.
- Clitoria arborescens R.Br.
- Clitoria australis Benth.
- Clitoria brachycalyx Harms
- Clitoria brachystegia Benth.
- Clitoria canescens Pittier ex Fantz
- Clitoria cavalcantei Fantz
- Clitoria cearensis Huber
- Clitoria chanondii Chuakul
- Clitoria cordiformis Fantz
- Clitoria cordobensis Burkart
- Clitoria coriacea Schery
- Clitoria dendrina Pittier
- Clitoria densiflora (Benth.) Benth.
- Clitoria epetiolata Burkart
- Clitoria fairchildiana R.A.Howard
- Clitoria falcata Lam.
- Clitoria flagellaris (Benth.) Benth.
- Clitoria flexuosa Fantz
- Clitoria fragrans Small
- Clitoria froesii Fantz
- Clitoria glaberrima Pittier
- Clitoria guianensis (Aubl.) Benth.
- Clitoria hanceana Hemsl.
- Clitoria hermannii Fantz
- Clitoria heterophylla Lam.
- Clitoria humilis Rose
- Clitoria irwinii Fantz
- Clitoria javanica Miq.
- Clitoria javitensis (Kunth) Benth.
- Clitoria juninensis Fantz
- Clitoria kaessneri Harms
- Clitoria kaieteurensis Fantz
- Clitoria lasciva Bojer ex Benth.
- Clitoria laurifolia Poir.
- Clitoria leptostachya Benth.
- Clitoria linearis Gagnep.
- Clitoria macrophylla Wall. ex Benth.
- Clitoria magentea Fantz
- Clitoria mariana L.
- Clitoria mexicana Link
- Clitoria monticola Brandegee
- Clitoria moyobambensis Fantz
- Clitoria mucronulata Benth.
- Clitoria nana Benth.
- Clitoria nervosa Herzog
- Clitoria obidensis Huber
- Clitoria pendens Fantz
- Clitoria pilosula Wall. ex Benth.
- Clitoria plumosa Fantz
- Clitoria polystachya Benth.
- Clitoria pozuzoensis J.F.Macbr.
- Clitoria sagotii Fantz
- Clitoria selloi Benth.
- Clitoria simplicifolia (Kunth) Benth.
- Clitoria snethlageae Ducke
- Clitoria speciosa Cav.
- Clitoria steyermarkii Fantz
- Clitoria stipularis Benth.
- Clitoria ternatea L.
- Clitoria triflora S.Watson
- Clitoria tunuhiensis Fantz
- Clitoria woytkowskii Fantz
Clitoria L. appears in other Kew resources:
Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status | Has image? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec 4, 1978 | Philcox, D. [3565], Brazil | K000920667 | Yes | ||
Dec 4, 1978 | Philcox, D. [4537], Brazil | K000920665 | Yes | ||
Dec 4, 1972 | Philcox, D. [49], Brazil | K000920666 | Yes | ||
Jan 1, 1969 | Prance, G.T. [6854], Brazil | K000920657 | Yes | ||
Hinton, G.B. [1528], Mexico | K000118538 | No | |||
Prance, G.T. [2736], Brazil | K000920655 | Yes | |||
Bamps, P. [5050], Brazil | K000920656 | Yes | |||
Santos, M.L.O. [16], Brazil | K000920660 | Yes | |||
Glaziou, A. [12548], Brazil | K000920662 | Yes | |||
Philcox, D. [3606], Brazil | K000920668 | Yes | |||
Prance, G.T. [5068], Brazil | K000920663 | Yes | |||
Coradin, L. [3754], Brazil | K000920659 | Yes | |||
Hinton, G.B. [4447], Mexico | K000118536 | No | |||
Fróes, R.L. [1822], Brazil | K000920669 | Yes | |||
Queiroz, J.C.C. [12], Brazil | K000920661 | Yes | |||
Anderson, A.B. [1192], Brazil | K000920658 | Yes | |||
Hinton, G.B. [1528], Mexico | K000118537 | No | |||
Prance, G.T. [2736], Brazil | K000920654 | Yes | |||
Nascimento, O.C. [436], Brazil | K000920664 | Yes |
First published in Sp. Pl.: 753 (1753)
Accepted by
- Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
Literature
Flora of West Tropical Africa
- —F.T.A. 2: 176.
Flora Zambesiaca
- Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 334 (1754).
- Sp. Pl.: 753 (1753)
Flora of Somalia
- Flora Somalia, Vol 1, (1993) Author: by M. Thulin [updated by M. Thulin 2008]
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- Benth. in J.L.S. 2: 33 (1858)
- L., Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 334 (1754)
- Sp. PL: 753 (1753)
-
Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
-
Flora of Somalia
Flora of Somalia
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
-
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
-
Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
-
Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
-
Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
-
Legumes of the World Online
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0