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''Clitoria fragrans'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the
legume family The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...
known by the common name pigeon wings, or sweet-scented pigeon wings. It is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
to
Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...
, where it was known most recently from 62 occurrences,''Clitoria fragrans''.
The Nature Conservancy.
but no current estimates of the total global population are available.USFWS
''Clitoria fragrans'' Five-year Review.
September 15, 2008.
The plant is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.


Characteristics

It a perennial herb or
subshrub A subshrub ( Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their ...
which grows up to half a meter tall from a woody
taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...
, sometimes reaching one meter. The slender, purplish, slightly waxy-textured stems have leaves alternately arranged. Each leaf has three elongated oblong or lance-shaped, bristle-tipped green leaflets each up to 4.5 centimeters in length. The
inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...
s occur in leaf axils, each bearing one or two fragrant blooms. The flower may be up to 5 cm long and is mostly pale pinkish purple with darker rose-pink streaks at the center and a white spot below. The flower is
resupinate Resupination is derived from the Latin word ''resupinus'', meaning "bent back with the face upward" or "on the back". "Resupination" is the noun form of the adjective "resupine" which means "being upside-down, supine or facing upward". The word " ...
d, with the reproductive parts curving around to point toward the back of the corolla; this forces a visiting insect to rub against them and thereby transfer
pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametop ...
.Palazzo, A. J., et al. (2007)
A review of the growth habits and restoration issues for ''Clitoria fragrans'' and ''Polygonella basiramia''.
US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.
A second type of flower often occurs which is
cleistogamous Cleistogamy is a type of automatic self-pollination of certain plants that can propagate by using non-opening, self-pollinating flowers. Especially well known in peanuts, peas, and pansies, this behavior is most widespread in the grass family. How ...
:
self-pollinating Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen from the same plant arrives at the stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms). There are two types of self-pollination: in autogamy, pollen is transferred t ...
, and not actually opening into a corolla. The cleistogamous flower is more common in general, but the type with the showy open corolla may be more common in the seasons after a
wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...
. Both types bear fruit, a
legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock fo ...
pod up to 5 cm long containing up to 9 reddish seeds a few millimeters in length. The seeds are sticky in texture and are dispersed when they adhere to animals.


Habitat

This plant grows in undisturbed areas in
Florida scrub Florida sand pine scrub is an endangered subtropical forest ecoregion found throughout Florida in the United States. It is found on coastal and inland sand ridges and is characterized by an evergreen xeromorphic plant community dominated by shrub ...
habitat, often in the
transition Transition or transitional may refer to: Mathematics, science, and technology Biology * Transition (genetics), a point mutation that changes a purine nucleotide to another purine (A ↔ G) or a pyrimidine nucleotide to another pyrimidine (C ↔ ...
between scrub and
sandhill A sandhill is a type of ecological community or xeric wildfire-maintained ecosystem. It is not the same as a sand dune. It features very short fire return intervals, one to five years. Without fire, sandhills undergo ecological succession and be ...
areas. It prefers open habitat where it is not shaded by tall woody vegetation. Periodic wildfire is common in this type of habitat in its natural state, a process which keeps the taller vegetation from shading smaller herbs and shrubs. The deeply rooting taproot helps the plant to survive fires and then resprout. The plant grows in dry upland areas of the scrub in white, yellow, and gray sand types. This plant is known from several widely scattered populations. Many of these are located on protected land within the bounds of Seminole State Forest, Lake Wales Ridge State Forest and
National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to ...
, and Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek State Park. Many occurrences are located on the
Avon Park Air Force Range Avon may refer to: *River Avon (disambiguation), several rivers Organisations * Avon Buses, a bus operating company in Wirral, England * Avon Coachworks, a car body builder established in 1919 at Warwick, England, relaunched in 1922, followin ...
, where the military is required to monitor them because of the species' federally threatened status.


Endangered status

Habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
and
fragmentation Fragmentation or fragmented may refer to: Computers * Fragmentation (computing), a phenomenon of computer storage * File system fragmentation, the tendency of a file system to lay out the contents of files non-continuously * Fragmented distributi ...
is a threat to this plant and other Florida scrub natives; much of the Florida scrub has been destroyed to make room for residential development and
agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...
operations such as
orange groves Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower * Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum ...
. Another threat is
predation Predation is a biological interaction In ecology, a biological interaction is the effect that a pair of organisms living together in a community have on each other. They can be either of the same species (intraspecific interactions), or o ...
. The plant is apparently very attractive to
white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
and
eastern cottontail The eastern cottontail (''Sylvilagus floridanus'') is a New World cottontail rabbit, a member of the family Leporidae. It is the most common rabbit species in North America. Distribution The eastern cottontail can be found in meadows and shru ...
s, which consume the herbage, and it plays
host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places *Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People * Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...
to many
butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...
species, including
long-tailed skipper The long-tailed skipper (''Urbanus proteus'') is a spread-winged skipper butterfly found throughout tropical and subtropical South America, south to Argentina and north into the Eastern United States and southern Ontario. It cannot live in areas ...
(''Urbanus proteus'') and
southern cloudywing ''Thorybes bathyllus'', the southern cloudywing (sometimes spelled southern cloudy wing), is a North American butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. Southern cloudywings can be difficult to identify because of individual variation and confusing se ...
(''Thorybes bathyllus''). The seeds appear to be consumed quite often, possibly by
beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
s.


References


External links


USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5134456 fragrans Endemic flora of Florida