Clitoria 



LEGUMINOSJE 



47 



Proc. Linn. Soc. ii. 33 A hi Fl Bras. xv. pt. 1, 118, /. 31, / I. ; 

 Griseb. FL Br. W. Ltd. 192 ; Urb. Si/ntl. Ant. iv. 299. (Fig. 13.) 

 Type in Herb. Linn, and in Herb. Hermann in Herb. Mus. Brit. 



Canefields, St. Andrew, McNab ! Hope Gardens ; near Runaway Bay ; 

 Harris ! Halfway Tree, Miss Wood ! FL Jam. 10,370 ; Kingston, Hitchcock. 

 Florida (naturalized), Bahamas, West Indies, Panama, tropical eastern 

 S. America, tropical Africa. 



Stem twining, puberulous. Leaflets elliptical or ovate, glabrous, 

 2-5 cm. 1. Peduncles one-flowered, very short, 3-8 mm. 1. Bracteoles 

 roundish, less than half as long as the calyx, 6-8 mm. 1. Floicers blue, 

 rarely white. Calyx 1*5-2 cm. 1. Standard 4-5 cm. 1. Pod, valves flat 



A, Portion of branch with leaves and 



flower x -. 



B. Wing x -3. 



Fig. 13. Clitoria Ternatea L. 



C, Keel x !-. 



D, Calyx, stamens and pistil, nat. size. 



E, Pod x 3. 



or slightly convex, beaked, pubescent, 6-11 cm. 1. Seeds roundish-ellipsoidal, 

 compressed, smooth. In cultivation the flower often becomes double. 



The powdered seeds (30 to 60 grains) are purgative and aperient, and 

 have gained a certain reputation in Europe as a safe medicine, especially 

 for children (Watt). Species of Clitoria have been used as cover crops to 

 protect the soil from wash on sloping ground. 



2. C. rubiginosa .I//.**, ex Pcrs. Syn. ii. 303 (1807) ; leaflets 3 ; 

 pod with a rib near the middle. Urb. Joe. cit. C. glycinoides 

 DC. Prodr. it. 234 (1820) ; Macf. Jaw. i. 2">3 ; Griseb. he. cit. ; 

 Bentli. in Journ. Proc. Linn. Soc. ii. 39 & in Fl. Bras. loc. cit. 



In fl. May-Oct. ; Wright ! Savanna la Mar, Distin ! Guys Hill, St. 

 Thomas in the Vale, McXab ! also Purdie ; road to Dolphin Peak, 1000 ft. ; 



