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Clitoria ternatea

L. (1753)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Rosids Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Genus: Clitoria

blue pea, butterfly pea

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Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Climbing or sprawling perennial herbs from a woody rootstock, pubescent with fine, minutely uncinate hairs.

Stems: Stems up to 3 m long.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves compound. Alternate. Leaflets 5 or 7(9), elliptic to suborbicular, 1–6.7 cm long, 0.5–4 cm wide, blades pinnately foliate. Lower leaflet surfaces pubescent. Leaflet margins entire. Petiolate. Stipules present, the stipules striate, persistent, lanceolate, (2–)4–10 mm long. Leaflet stipels present.

Flowers: Flowers axillary, solitary or paired. Flowers papilionaceous, resupinate. Bracteoles large, striate, ovate to orbicular, covering the flower buds, 0.5–1.7 cm long. Calyx 5-lobed, lower lobe usually largest, upper 2 lobes connate only at base; 1.5–2.2 cm long, distinctly veined, pubescent. Corolla blue or white with blue margins, or occasionally entirely white, the inner area at base pale or greenish yellow; standard 3–5 cm long, much larger than wings and keel. Stamens 10; upper stamen distinct, the other 9 connate into a tube. Ovary superior, stipitate; ovules 2 to numerous.

Fruit: Pods dehiscent; linear–oblong; compressed; (4–)6–12 cm long; 0.7–1.2 cm wide; with a longitudinal ridge on both valves; filled with soft tissue between the seeds; apex beaked. Seeds 8–10; reddish brown top dark brown; with darker mottling; ellipsoid to reniform; 4–8 mm long; 3–5 mm in diameter; slightly laterally flattened; compressed.

Ploidy: 2n = 14; 16.

Habitat: Native range uncertain; but probably Neotropical; now pan–tropical.

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Images

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Uses and Culture

USES

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

Kaua'i Naturalized
O'ahu Naturalized
Lana'i Naturalized
Maui Naturalized

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Specimens

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Notes

  • 1600-1800 m
  • Description digitized by McKenna Bonn-Savage
  • Description digitized from the Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii
  • Native neotropical, seeds possibly toxic to livestock

Bibliography

Name Published In: Sp. Pl.: 753 (1753)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:656 (O [as C. ternata]); Oppenheimer & Bartlett 2000:5 (WM); Staples et al. 2002:10 (KEY); Staples & Herbst 2005:299 (KEY), 313 (DESCR, spelling change to ternatea); Starr et al. 2010:64 (L); Brock et al. 2023:124 (K)

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Description Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Clitoria ternatea Honolulu, Kewalo St Preserved_Specimen Fruits 8-11 mm wide; seeds 4-5 x 5-6 mm, brown to brown with black maculations to black Weber, P.W. Oahu BISH 1945-05-01
2 Clitoria ternatea Honolulu, Kewalo St Preserved_Specimen Flowers blue, single; pods narrow; seeds oblong, black Weber, P.W. Oahu BISH 1945-05-01
3 Clitoria ternatea Mana Sugar Camp, jct. of Hwy. 50 and Mana Rd roadside Preserved_Specimen Delicate vine. Stem medium green with dull purple cast, on youngest parts pale green. Leaflets above dark greyish-green to yellow-green, dull, below slightly blue green. Inflorescence: calyx and epicalyx pale yellow-green; corolla brilliant blue, the segments with bases white. Pod with calyx brown and papery, the pod pale green, darker on ridges. Hume, L. 431 Kauai BISH 1989-10-18
4 Clitoria ternatea Bishop Museum Preserved_Specimen Forbes, C.N. 1726 Oahu BISH 1912-01-03
5 Clitoria ternatea U.H. Manoa Preserved_Specimen Yoshinaga, E.K. Oahu BISH 1929-11-20
6 Clitoria ternatea U.H. Manoa Preserved_Specimen Rock, J.F.C. Oahu BISH
7 Clitoria ternatea Honolulu, U.H. Campus Preserved_Specimen Tamaka, Y. Oahu BISH 1929-12-09
8 Clitoria ternatea Oahu Preserved_Specimen Mann, H. 354 Oahu BISH 1864-01-01
9 Clitoria ternatea West of Makapuu Lighthouse, oceanside (south) of Cyperus trachysanthos population Dry grass/shrubland with exotic vegetation. Preserved_Specimen Shrub 2-2.5 ft. tall; flowers blue; fruit pods that open. Corn, C. Oahu BISH 1997-06-19
10 Clitoria ternatea Waimea District. Kekaha, near intersection with Kekaha road and Akialoa Raod, near irrigation ditch. Growing in patch of grass alongside irrigation ditch. dry, open Preserved_Specimen mostly herbaceous vine with a slightly woody base growing to 2 meters tall and covering a clump of grass 10 by 10 meters. Leaves light green and flowers an attractive deep indigo blue. Some fruits present. Brock, K. 739 Kauai BISH 2015-10-17
11 Clitoria ternatea Keomuku Road, between Halulu and Kahohunui in Prosopis thicket in sandy soil Preserved_Specimen Vines with blue flowers naturalized Oppenheimer, H.L. 40728 Lanai BISH 2007-04-24
12 Clitoria ternatea Haleiwa, Cane Road nr. Weed Junction silty loam, on sugar cane Preserved_Specimen vine; flowers are large vivid blue Afualo, D. 77 Oahu BISH 1975-03-16
13 Clitoria ternatea Honolulu, Makiki District Park on a fence; full sun Preserved_Specimen Vine. Stems up to 1 m. long. Standard is violet and medium blue with a medial strip of cream. The outer surface of the standard is also violet and medium blue but with cream and chartreuse also. Keel cream to chartreuse. Wings violet and medium blue distally; cream proximally. Flower odorless (afternoon) Lau, J. 1716 Oahu BISH 1985-12-09
14 Clitoria ternatea W Maui, Lahaina District, Alaeloa, SE of intersection of Honoapiilani Hwy. and Napilihau Rd Naturalizing, with many seedlings noted. Preserved_Specimen Flowers blue. Oppenheimer, H.L. 99910 Maui BISH 1999-09-15
15 Clitoria ternatea Southeast Oahu, Makapuu, Alan Davis Beach Dry, rocky coastal shrubland with low Panicum maximum, Cenchrus ciliaris, Leucaena leucocephala, Abutilon incanum. Preserved_Specimen Sprawling herb with bright blue papilionoid flowers, white and yellow in the throat. Imada, C. 200414 Oahu BISH 2004-02-14
16 Clitoria ternatea road to Waialae Nui Ridge Preserved_Specimen 2 m vine Egler, F.E. 3712 Oahu BISH 1937-01-01
17 Clitoria ternatea Ke'eaumoku St. Near the H1 Roadside weed, dryer area. Climbing up fences Preserved_Specimen Local patch, abundant in this area but not seen anywhere else nearby Faccenda, K. 1668.1 Oahu BISH 2020-08-14
18 Clitoria ternatea Hulopoe Rd Growing in disturbed broken rock on steep dry slope. Naturalized. Growing in coastal dry Kiawe and Cenchrus scrub, with Coccinia grandis and Leuceana Preserved_Specimen Starr, F. 7040202 Lanai BISH 2007-04-02
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