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Clitoria fragrans

Small

Sweet-scented Pigeonwings

G2Imperiled (G2G3) Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →
G2ImperiledGlobal Rank
HighThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.141904
Element CodePDFAB0Z010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
Endemicendemic to a single state or province
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassDicotyledoneae
OrderFabales
FamilyFabaceae
GenusClitoria
Synonyms
Martiusia fragrans(Small) Small
Other Common Names
Pigeonwings (EN) sweetscented pigeonwings (EN)
Concept Reference
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2025-01-30
Change Date2020-06-05
Edition Date2025-01-30
Edition AuthorsG. Schultz (2/86), rev. A. Wildman, TNC-HO (11/94)., rev. L. Oliver (2020), rev. J. Annis (2020), rev. C.M. Eckel (2025)
Threat ImpactHigh
Range Extent5000-20,000 square km (about 2000-8000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences21 - 80
Rank Reasons
Clitoria fragrans is a perennial herb in undisturbed clearings of xeric sandhill and scrub communities and endemic to central Florida in the southeastern United States. Scrub habitat within Florida has decreased by more than 80 percent, affecting numerous rare plant species in central Florida, and C. fragrans has likely suffered some unknown percent of decline due to this conversion of scrub habitat. However, about 70 percent of remaining occurrences are on protected land, though they are still subject to the threats of fire exclusion and forestry management practices (e.g. firebreaks). The remaining occurrences are on private land where they are subject to continuing threats of land development, conversion to agriculture, fire exclusion, and recreational activities.
Range Extent Comments
Clitoria fragrans is endemic to central Florida in the southeastern United States where it grows very locally in Polk, Highlands, Lake, Orange, Marion, and Osceola counties (Weakley, A.S. and the Southeastern Flora Team 2025). Range extent was estimated at 16,493 square kilometers using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) occurrence data collected between 1984 and 2025 (FNAI 2025, GeoCAT 2025, iNaturalist 2025, SERNEC 2025). Occurrences older than 40 years were excluded from this calculation.
Occurrences Comments
By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) occurrence data documented between 1984 and 2025, it is estimated that there are 58 occurrences rangewide (FNAI 2025, iNaturalist 2025, SERNEC 2025). This estimate does not include occurrences considered historical or possibly historical (>40 years).
Threat Impact Comments
The main threats for the species are land conversion to agriculture and residential / commercial development and fire exclusion in appropriate habitat. Although numerous occurrences are on protected land, they often occur on the edge of firebreaks or roads, where they are subject to various land management practices (FNAI 2025). Natural communities (e.g. Florida scrub, sandhill) where fire is excluded or at an inappropriate return interval, will typically succeed to dense oak associations, where herb cover is greatly reduced (Peroni and Abrahamson 1986).
Ecology & Habitat

Diagnostic Characteristics

Clitoria fragrans is easily distinguished from C. mariana by its erect herbaceous habit; purplish, glaucous stems; narrow (about 1cm) oblong leaflets; axillary lavender, resupinate flowers of two types; and the very long stipe of the fruit (Fantz 1977).

The flowers of Centrosema differ from those of Clitoria by having shorter calyx tubes. Centrosema arenicola is restricted to much the same habitats as Clitoria fragrans, but has a somewhat larger range (Martin 1993).

Habitat

This species is widely scattered in undisturbed clearings of xeric sandhill and scrub communities on well-drained upland soils (Weakley, A.S. and the Southeastern Flora Team 2025). Sandhill typically occurs on rolling hills of white, yellowish or gray sand with a longleaf pine/turkey oak overstory (bluejack and/or sand live oak may also be dominant) and a ground cover of numerous herbs dominated by wiregrass. The white sand scrub is generally found with an overstory of scattered pines (sand, slash or longleaf), a middle layer of scrub oaks, several ericaceous shrub species and saw palmetto, and a thin layer of many herbaceous or dwarf shrub species (Duever 1983). Clitoria fragrans is typically found in undisturbed clearings in the scrub but also very open scrub (Kral 1983).

Ecology

Clitoria fragrans has a long taproot that enables it to survive fires that burn (formerly, at least) the sandhill and scrub communities. These fires reduce the woody plant competition that would eventually shade it out. The sandy clearings favored by the species could also be created by erosional forces such as wind (Kral 1983). In long unburned sites, plant survivorship was estimated at 85% (Lewis 2007).

Reproduction

The extreme localization and widely scattered nature of Clitoria fragrans populations make it very inconspicuous, so it is not usually collected by botanists unless it is bearing chasmogamous flowers. It is one of the relatively few species of plants with cleistogamous flowers. Seed production is assured by these self-fertilizing flowers even if cross-pollination of the showy chasmogamous flowers has not taken place. This mechanism insures both outbreeding and inbreeding as a normal part of each reproductive cycle and could help insure the rapid production of numerous offspring adapted to new environmental conditions resulting from a fire (Radford 1974). Seeds are transported on the outside of animals; a viscous exudate helps with dispersal (Pijl 1982).
Terrestrial Habitats
Shrubland/chaparralSand/dune
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN2
ProvinceRankNative
FloridaS2Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
1 - Residential & commercial developmentLarge - restrictedModerate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh - moderate
1.1 - Housing & urban areasLarge (31-70%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh - moderate
1.2 - Commercial & industrial areasRestricted (11-30%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh - moderate
1.3 - Tourism & recreation areasRestricted (11-30%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh - moderate
2 - Agriculture & aquacultureRestricted (11-30%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
2.1 - Annual & perennial non-timber cropsRestricted (11-30%)Moderate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
7 - Natural system modificationsPervasive (71-100%)Serious or 31-70% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
7.1 - Fire & fire suppressionPervasive (71-100%)Serious or 31-70% pop. declineHigh (continuing)

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Plant Characteristics
DurationPERENNIAL, SUMMER-FLOWERING
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (1)
Florida (1)
AreaForestAcres
Alexander Springs CreekOcala National Forest2,954
References (28)
  1. Abrahamson, W.G. 1984a. Post-fire recovery of Florida Lake Wales Ridge vegetation. American J. Botany 71(1): 9-21.
  2. Abrahamson, W.G. 1984b. Species response to fire on the Florida Lake Wales Ridge. American J. Botany 71(1): 35-43.
  3. Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants. Columbia Univ. Press, New York. 1262 pp.
  4. Duever, L.C. 1983. Natural communities of Florida's inland sand ridges. Palmetto 3(3): 1-3.
  5. Fantz, P.R. 1977. A Monograph of the genus Clitoria (Leguminosae Glycineae) [Ph.D. dissertation]. Univ. Florida. pp. 696-705.
  6. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2023. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 11. Magnoliophyta: Fabaceae, parts 1+2. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxvii + 1108 pp.
  7. Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI). 2025. Natural Heritage Database. Florida Natural Areas Inventory. Tallahassee, FL.
  8. Geospatial Conservation Assessment Tool (GeoCAT). 2025. Online. Available: https://geocat.iucnredlist.org/editor
  9. Hall, D.W. 1993. Illustrated plants of Florida and the Coastal Plain. Maupin House, Gainesville, Florida. 431 pp.
  10. iNaturalist. 2025. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2025).
  11. Kartesz, J. T. 1987. Unpublished plant characterization database information on vascular plant species of the U.S., Canada, and Greenland.
  12. Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
  13. Kral, R. 1983c. A report on some rare, threatened, or endangered forest-related vascular plants of the South. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Forest Service Technical Publication R8-TP2, Athens, GA. 1305 pp.
  14. Lewis, M. N. 2007. Life history and reproductive biology of <i>Clitoria fragrans</i> relative to fire history on the Avon Park Air Force Range. Unpublished Master's thesis. University of Central Florida. Online. Available: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd (accessed 27 Jan 2020).
  15. Palazzo, A., S. Hardy, T. Cary and T. Bashore. 2007. A review of the growth habits and restoration issues for <i>Clitoria fragrans</i> and <i>Polygonella basiramia. </i>US Army Corp of Engineers, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. Online. Available: <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9296/bf58d5594fc6d1273474b9d1b63b7bfdbe3d.pdf?_ga=2.140959926.546215016.1580157791-542993936.1579646108">https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9296/bf58d5594fc6d1273474b9d1b63b7bfdbe3d.pdf?_ga=2.140959926.546215016.1580157791-542993936.1579646108</a> (accessed 27 Jan 2007).
  16. Peroni, P. A., and W. G. Abrahamson. 1986. Succession in Florida sandridge vegetation: A retrospective study. Fla. Sci. 3:176-191.
  17. Pijl, L. van der. 1982. Principles of dispersal in higher plants. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany. 214 pp.
  18. Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles, and C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Univ. North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 1183 pp.
  19. Radford, A.E., W.C. Dickison, J.R. Massey, and C.R. Bell. 1974. Vascular plant systematics. Harper and Row, New York. 891 pp.
  20. Schultz, G. 1986. Element stewardship abstract for Clitoria fragrans. The Nature Conservancy, Winter Park, Florida.
  21. Southeast Regional Network of Expertise and Collections (SERNEC) Data Portal. 2025. https//:sernecportal.org/index.php (accessed 2025).
  22. Turner, W. , D. Wilcove, and H. Swain. 2006. State of the scrub: conservation progress, management responsibilities, and land acquisition priorities for imperiled species of Florida's Lake Wales Ridge.
  23. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1993. Endangered or threatened status for seven central Florida plants. Federal Register 58(79): 25746-25755.
  24. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2007. Pigeon wings (<i>Clitoria fragrans) </i> 5-Year Review: summary and evaluation. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region. South Florida Ecological Services Office, Vero Beach, Florida.
  25. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2020. Pigeon wings (Clitoria fragrans) 5-Year Review: Summary and Evaluation. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, South Atlantic-Gulf Region, Florida Ecological Services Office, Vero Beach, Florida.
  26. Ward, D.B., ed. 1979. Rare and endangered biota of Florida. Vol. 5: Plants. Univ. Presses of Florida, Gainesville.
  27. Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2025. Flora of the southeastern United States Web App. Edition of February 18, 2025. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Online. Available: https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu (accessed 2025).
  28. Wunderlin, R.P. and B.F. Hansen. 2011. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida, 3rd edition. University Press of Florida, Tampa. 800 pp.