Plant Index


 
 
 
 

Centrosema virginianum

Centrosema virginianum (L.) Benth.

spurred butterfly pea

Synonym(s): Bradburya virginiana, Centrosema virginianum var. ellipticum
Centrosema virginianum (Spurred Butterfly Pea)
Image ID: 8844
Image by: Ware, Richard & Teresa
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: CEVI2
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Centrosema virginianum
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2017-11-28

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: CENTR2
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Centrosema
GENUS AUTHORITY: (DC.) Benth.
GENUS COMMON: Butterfly pea
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 40 species, perennial vining herbs, of tropical and warm temperate regions of the Western Hemisphere.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION: Identification notes: Centrosema and Clitoria are unique among our legumes in having resupinate flowers, the pedicel twisted 180 degrees so that the large “standard” is lowermost. They are often confused; the following key includes both genera for easy differentiation.
GENUS REFERENCES: Isely (1998)=I; Fantz (2002a).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: FABACE
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Fabaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Lindley 1836 or LEGUMINOSAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Legume Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 730 genera and 20,000 species, trees, shrubs, and herbs, cosmopolitan.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Isely (1990)=SE (throughout the family treatment); Isely (1998)=I; Lewis et al. (2005); Wojciechowski, Lavin, & Sanderson (2004); Wilbur (1963a); Robertson & Lee (1976).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Twining or climbing, herbaceous perennial vine found in dry woodlands and openings.
STEMS: Stems trailing and twining over other plants, rough with tiny hairs.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, on petioles with tiny, lance-shaped stipules at the base; divided into 3 oval to elliptic leaflets, each to 2 3/4 in. long and with conspicuous veins, especially beneath.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers 1-4 on slender stalks from leaf axils, pink or lavender, 1 1/2-2 in. wide, bilaterally symmetric with a typical pea-flower shape, including a large round and somewhat flattened banner petal; wings and keel petals are shorter and tightly curved to form a knob in the flower center.
FRUITS: Fruit a narrow pod.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: to 5 ft. long

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb, Vine

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Trifoliate
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Bilateral (Zygomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Jun-Aug
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
x x x x x

BLOOM COLOR: Lavender
White Red Pink Orange Yellow Green Blue Lavender Purple Violet Brown Not Applicable
x

FRUITING PERIOD: Jul-Oct.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Dry forests, Woods margins
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Spurred Butterfly-pea produces beautiful 1-2" lavender flowers that bear a white spot. This modest little vine climbs by means of its twirling stems. It is often found growing in well-drained soil at the edge of woods, or in open sunny areas. Sometimes it grows prostrate on the ground when there is nothing available for it to climb. Spurred Butterfly Pea is quite tolerant of drought, once its root system has gotten established. This species is the host for the caterpillars of the Long-tailed Skipper Butterfly.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Well-drained
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 6
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE: 3
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id Project Collection date Collector Action
329 HORT 2003-09-29 Wilbur-Brooks View
1373 HORT 2006-09-18 Bryan View
2247 NPMD 2019-09-20 Touloupas View
2277 NPMD 2019-10-01 Touloupas View
2741 NPMD 2022-09-13 Searles View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id acc_num acc_dt coll_id Action
324 2011-0191 2011-08-18 329 View
4115 1992-0271 View
6752 1996-0410 View
9440 2021-0099 2021-07-01 0 View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num acc_id loc_num pers_num inst_dt Action
756 324 111 Liloia 2011-08-22 View
757 324 15 Liloia 2011-09-02 View
758 324 17 Liloia 2011-09-02 View
759 324 14 Liloia 2011-09-02 View
760 324 12 Liloia 2011-09-02 View
761 324 29 Liloia 2011-09-02 View
762 324 28 Liloia 2011-09-02 View
763 324 24 Liloia 2011-09-02 View
765 324 110 Liloia 2011-09-02 View
766 324 108 Liloia 2011-09-02 View
767 324 107 Liloia 2011-09-02 View
6443 4115 200 NCBG staff 1993-03-01 View
9528 6752 8 NCBG staff 1996-03-28 View
12776 9440 14 Liloia 0000-00-00 View
12789 9440 17 Liloia 0000-00-00 View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: CEVI2
USDA Common Name: Spurred Butterfly Pea
Native Status: L48 (N), PR (N), VI (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, DE, FL, GA, IL, KY, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NJ, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA), USA+ (PR, VI)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Vine, Forb/herb

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Centrosema virginianum
COMMON NAME: Spurred Butterfly Pea
SYNONYMY: [= C, G, I, K, Mo, RAB, SE, Va, W, WH3; > C. virginianum var. virginianum - F; > C. virginianum var. ellipticum Fernald - F; = Bradburya virginiana (Linnaeus) Kuntze - S; > C. virginianum var. angustifolium (A.P. de Candolle) Grisebach]
PHENOLOGY: Jun-Aug; Jul-Oct.
HABITAT: Dry woodlands and openings.
COMMENTS: S. NJ south to s. FL, west to KY, sc. MO, AR, and TX. Very variable in leaflet length:width ratio, with forms with very narrow leaflets prevalent southwards (10:1 or greater), especially in peninsular FL (and in the West Indies); these perhaps warrant taxonomic recognition as C. virginianum var. angustifolium (A.P. de Candolle) Grisebach. Further study is needed.
RANGE MAP: Centrosema virginianum.png

Key to Map Symbols
ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Fabaceae Lindley 1836 or LEGUMINOSAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Legume Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 730 genera and 20,000 species, trees, shrubs, and herbs, cosmopolitan.
REFERENCE: Isely (1990)=SE (throughout the family treatment); Isely (1998)=I; Lewis et al. (2005); Wojciechowski, Lavin, & Sanderson (2004); Wilbur (1963a); Robertson & Lee (1976).
ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Centrosema (DC.) Benth. (Butterfly pea)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 40 species, perennial vining herbs, of tropical and warm temperate regions of the Western Hemisphere.
REFERENCE: Isely (1998)=I; Fantz (2002a).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Centrosema virginianum in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Centrosema virginianum in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Centrosema virginianum in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Centrosema virginianum in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Centrosema virginianum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Centrosema virginianum

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 8844 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 8844 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 8844 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)

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10 photo(s) available in the Image Gallery

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