Clitoria 



LEGUMINOS^ 



47 



Proc. Linn. Soc. ii. 33 & in Fl. Bras. xv. pt. 1, 118, t. 31,/. I.; 

 Griseb. Fl. Br. W. Ind. 192 ; Urb. Symb. Ant. iv. 299. (Fig. 13.) 

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



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

 Harris \ Halfway Tree, Miss Wood 1 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 

 roimdish, less than half as long as the calyx, 6-8 mm. 1. Flowers blue, 

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



Fig. IS.— Clitoria Ternatea L. 



A, Portion of branch with leaves and C, Keel X §. 



flower X §. D, Calyx, stamens and pistil, nat. size. 



B, Wing X f. 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 Juss. ex Pers. Syn. ii. 303 (1807) ; leaflets 3 ; 

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

 BC. Prodr. ii. 234 (1825); Macf. Jam. i. 253 ; Griseb. loc. cit. ; 

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



In fl. May-Oct. ; Wright \ Savanna la Mar, Distinl Guys Hill, -St. 

 Thomas in the Vale, McNab I also Purdie ; road to Dolphin Peak, 1000 ft. ; 



