Clitoria

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Genus of legumes

title: "Clitoria" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["clitoria", "fabaceae-genera", "botanical-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus"] description: "Genus of legumes" topic_path: "general/clitoria" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitoria" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of legumes ::

| image = Clitoria_%28253000626%29.jpg | image_caption = Clitoria ternatea | taxon = Clitoria | authority = L. | display_parents = 3 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 66; see text. | synonyms = | Clitoriastrum | Heist. (1748), not validly publ. | Macrotrullion | Klotzsch (1849), nom. nud. | Martia | Leandro (1819 publ. 1821), nom. illeg. | Martiusia | Schult. (1822) | Nauchea | J.T.Descourt. (1826) | Neurocarpum | Desv., (1813) | Rhombifolium | Rich. ex DC. (1825) | Ternatea | Mill., (1825), not validly publ. | Vexillaria | Eaton (1817), nom. superfl. |synonyms_ref =

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

Taxonomy

Naming of the genus

This genus was named after the human clitoris, for the flowers bear a resemblance to the vulva. The first reference to the genus, which includes an illustration of the plant, was made in 1678 by Jakób Breyne, a Polish naturalist, who described it as Flos clitoridis ternatensibus, meaning 'Ternatean flower of the clitoris'. Many vernacular names of these flowers in different languages are similarly based on references to female external genitalia.

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.

Species

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Clitoria_ternatea_Blanco2.301.png" caption="Blue and white varieties of ''[[Clitoria ternatea]]''"] ::

, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:

Distribution

These plants are native to tropical, subtropical and temperate areas of the world, ranging through the temperate and tropical Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, southern China, and Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Uses

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

Gallery

Image:Clitoria MS4124.JPG|The shape of the Clitoria flowers has inspired the name of the genus File:Clitoria (447419053).jpg|Clitoria mariana flower File:Neel Aporajita (Clitoria ternatea) in Shantinagar, Dhaka.jpg|Clitoria ternatea, known as Neel Aporajita in Bangladesh File:Khao tom-dok anchan53.JPG|Thai Khao tom sweet colored blue with Clitoria ternatea flowers File:Blue tea.jpg|Clitoria tea

References

References

  1. "Clitoria L.".
  2. (2000). "Nomenclatural Notes on the Genus Clitoria for the Flora North American Project". Castanea.
  3. Breyne, Jakób. (1678). "Exoticarum aliarumque minus cognitarum plantarum centuria prima". David-Fridericus Rhetius.
  4. [[Clitoria ternatea#Names. Clitoria ternatea]]
  5. (1991). "Ethnobotany of ''Clitoria'' (Leguminosae)". Economic Botany.
  6. "''Clitoria'' L.". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  7. (2008). "The Ayurvedic medicine Clitoria ternatea-From traditional use to scientific assessment". Journal of Ethnopharmacology.
  8. (1991). "Ethnobotany of ''Clitoria'' (Leguminosae)". Economic Botany.
  9. (July 2021). "Flora and Fauna Web: Clitoria ternatea L. }}{{Dead link".
  10. Pantazi, Chloe. (February 26, 2016). "Watch this tea dramatically change from deep blue to vibrant red with a squeeze of lemon". Business Insider Deutchsland.
  11. "The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India (Part I Volume II)". [[Ministry of Health and Family Welfare]].

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