Clitoria

 

Clitoria

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Clitoria
Clitoria (253000626).jpg
Clitoria ternatea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Fabales
Family:
Fabaceae
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Tribe:
Phaseoleae
Subtribe:
Clitoriinae
Genus:
Clitoria

L.
Species

Many, see text.

Synonyms
  • Neurocarpum Desv.
  • Ternatea Tourn. ex Mill.

Clitoria is a genus of mainly tropical and subtropical,[1] insect-pollinated flowering pea vines.

Taxonomy

Naming of the genus

See also: Orchidaceae § Etymology

This genus was named after the human clitoris, for the flowers bear a resemblance to the vulva. Originally the first described species of the genus was given the name Flos clitoridis ternatensibus in 1678 by Rumpf, a German-born botanist employed by the Dutch East India Company. It was regarded as appropriately named by Johann Philipp Breyne in 1747.[2] Many vernacular names of these flowers in different languages are similarly based on references to female external genitalia.[3]

Controversies existed in the past among botanists regarding the good taste of the naming of the genus. The analogy drew sharp criticism from botanists such as James Edward Smith in 1807, Amos Eaton in 1817, Michel Étienne Descourtilz in 1826, and Eaton and Wright in 1840. Some less explicit alternatives, like Vexillaria (Eaton 1817) and Nauchea (Descourtilz 1826), were proposed, but they failed to prosper, and the name Clitoria has survived to this day.[4]

Species

Blue and white varieties of Clitoria ternatea
  • Clitoria albiflora Mattei
  • Clitoria amazonum Benth.
  • Clitoria andrei Fantz
  • Clitoria angustifolia Kunth
  • Clitoria annua J. Graham
  • Clitoria arborea Benth.
  • Clitoria arborescens R. Br.
  • Clitoria australis Benth.
  • Clitoria biflora Dalziel [fr; es]
  • Clitoria brachystegia Benth.
  • Clitoria bracteata Poir.
  • Clitoria brasiliana L.
  • Clitoria cajanifolia (C. Presl) Benth.
  • Clitoria capitata Rich.
  • Clitoria dendrina Pittier
  • Clitoria fairchildiana R. A. Howard
  • Clitoria falcata Lam.
  • Clitoria fragrans Small
  • Clitoria glycinoides DC.
  • Clitoria guianensis (Aubl.) Benth.
  • Clitoria heterophylla Lam.
    • C. h. var. heterophylla
    • C. h. var. pedunculata (Bojer ex Benth.) Fantz
  • Clitoria javitensis subsp. javitensis
  • Clitoria laurifolia Poir.
  • Clitoria linearis Gagnep.
  • Clitoria mariana L.
  • Clitoria mearnsii De Wild.
  • Clitoria mexicana Link
  • Clitoria moyobambensis Fantz
  • Clitoria nana Benth.
  • Clitoria pedunculata Bojer ex Benth.
  • Clitoria pinnata (Pers.) R. H. Sm. & G. P. Lewis
  • Clitoria plumieri Turpin ex Pers.
  • Clitoria polyphylla Poir.
  • Clitoria racemosa G.Don
  • Clitoria racemosa Benth.
  • Clitoria rubiginosa Pers.
  • Clitoria sagotii Fantz
  • Clitoria schiedeana Schltdl.
  • Clitoria stipularis Benth.
  • Clitoria tanganicensis Micheli [es]
  • Clitoria ternatea L.
    • C. t. var. albiflora Voigt
  • Clitoria virginiana L.
  • Clitoria woytkowskii Fantz
  • Clitoria zanzibarensis Vatke
  • Clitoria zanzibarensis Mengkoemieng

Distribution

These plants are native to tropical, subtropical and temperate areas of the world, from western North America east to Australia.[1]

Uses

The most widely known species of the genus is Clitoria ternatea, also known as butterfly pea. It is used as an herbal medicine,[5][6] and it is used as food, as well.[7][8] Its roots are used in ayurveda Hindu medicine.


This article uses material from the Wikipedia article
 Metasyntactic variable, which is released under the 
Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.