Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Clitoria mariana var. mariana
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Butterfly-pea from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Clitoria mariana
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Clitoria mariana var. mariana
INCLUDED WITHIN Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Clitoria mariana
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-42-001:
Clitoria mariana FAMILY Fabaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Martiusia mariana
COMMON NAME:
Butterfly-pea
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_clma4_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm0506m_19
June Union County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
Leaflets ovate or elliptic, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and pinnately compound
)
JK Marlow jkm210626_1716
June Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
Large flowers on stalks from the leaf axils, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm100702_142
July Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
The calyx has a long tube and shorter lobes (vs. the opposite in Centrosema), per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow s070830_i
August SC
Clemson Forest
Fruit a 1-2.5" legume, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
Bill Stringer wcs_clitoria
September
)
JK Marlow jkm061029_081
October Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm061029_089
October Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_clitoria_mariana_6
October
The standard up to 2" high, the wings & keel much smaller, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
COMPARE
Butterfly-pea species
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Clitoria mariana var. mariana
FAMILY
Fabaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Clitoria mariana
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Clitoria mariana var. mariana
INCLUDED WITHIN
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Clitoria mariana
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-42-001:
Clitoria mariana
FAMILY
Fabaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Martiusia mariana
350
Herbaceous vine
Perennial
Habitat: Dry woodlands and openings, roadsides, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Mostly alternate
FLOWER:
Summer
Blue/Lavender
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
10 stamens, monadelphous
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p053
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p034
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p264-265
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p110
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p414
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p150
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p038
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p132
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p189
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p129
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p167
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p077
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p086
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".