North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Clitoria mariana

Clitoria mariana L.

butterfly pea, atlantic pigeonwings, she-pea

Synonym(s): Martiusia mariana

Image ID: 8903
Image by: Ware, Richard & Teresa
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: CLMA4
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Clitoria mariana
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2019-01-11

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: CLITO
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Clitoria
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Pigeonwings
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 60 species, of tropical and warm temperate regions of the New and Old World.
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; see key under Centrosema.
GENUS REFERENCES: Isely (1998)=I; Fantz (2000, 2002b)=Z.

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: Sprawling, purple-flowered perennial of dry woodlands, openings and roadsides.
STEMS: Stems smooth and loosely ascending, often sprawling over other plants.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, on petioles with a pair of stipules at the base, divided into 3 oval to elliptic leaflets, the middle leaflet on a stalk; smooth above and short-hairy beneath.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in stalked clusters of 1-3 from leaf axils, pale blue to pinkish-lavender, 1-2 in. long, bilaterally symmetric and with typical pea flower shape, including a significantly larger, showy petal marked with dark purple lines. The much shorter calyx is tubular.
FRUITS: Fruit a linear-oblong, flattened pod tipped by the persistent style; upon splitting open, parts twist and sticky seeds are revealed.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: to nearly 2 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

BLOOM COLOR: Pale blue to pinkish-lavender

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

FRUITING PERIOD: Jul-Oct.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Disturbed, Woods margins
NATIVE RANGE: eastern & central U.S. & South America

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE:
LIGHT EXPOSURE:
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
111	HORT	2011-08-11	Poythress	View
2270	NPMD	2019-10-01	Touloupas	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
110	2012-0083	2012-11-13	111	View
4139	1992-0295			View
4923	1995-0041			View
5092	1995-0211			View
5624	1995-0748			View
6031	1995-1162			View
7013	1998-0282			View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
190	110	15	Liloia	2012-08-15	View
191	110	16	Liloia	2012-08-15	View
6467	4139	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
7342	4923	202	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
7514	5092	203	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
8138	5624	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View
8681	6031	2	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
9888	7013	8	NCBG staff	1996-03-05	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: CLMA4
USDA Common Name: Atlantic Pigeonwings
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, AZ, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Vine, Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACU		FACU		FACU	FACU		FACU	FACU	FACU

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Clitoria mariana var. mariana
COMMON NAME: Butterfly Pea, She-pea
SYNONYMY: [= Mo, Va, Z; < C. mariana - C, F, G, I, Il, K, Pa, RAB, SE, W, WH3; < Martiusia mariana (Linnaeus) Small - S]
PHENOLOGY: Jun-Aug; Jul-Oct.
HABITAT: Dry woodlands and openings, roadsides.
COMMENTS: NY (Long Island), NJ west to s. OH, s. IL, MO, and OK, south to c. peninsular FL, TX, and South America; disjunct in s. AZ. Var. pubescentia Fantz is endemic in c. and s. peninsular FL (see below). A third variety, var. orientalis Fantz, is endemic in se. Asia.
RANGE MAP: Clitoria mariana var. mariana.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)
Clitoria L. (Pigeonwings)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 60 species, of tropical and warm temperate regions of the New and Old World.
REFERENCE: Isely (1998)=I; Fantz (2000, 2002b)=Z.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

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

WEB RESOURCES

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

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 8903 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 19514 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 8903 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)