Clitoria fragrans
Encyclopedia
Clitoria fragrans is a rare species of flowering plant in the legume family
known by the common name pigeon wings, or sweet-scented pigeon wings. It is endemic to Central
Florida
, where it was known most recently from 62 occurrences, but no current estimates of the total global population are available. The plant is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.
which grows up to half a meter tall from a woody taproot
, 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
s occur in leaf axils, each bearing one or two fragrant blooms. The flower may be up to 5 centimeters long and is mostly pale pinkish purple with darker rose-pink streaks at the center and a white spot below. The flower is resupinate
, with the reproductive parts curving around to point toward the back of the corolla; this forces a visiting insect to rub against them and therby transfer pollen
. A second type of flower often occurs which is cleistogamous
: self-pollinating
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
. Both types bear fruit, a legume pod up to 5 centimeters 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, often in the transition
between scrub and sandhill
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
, and Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek State Park
. Many occurrences are located on the Avon Park Air Force Range
, where the military is required to monitor them because of the species' federally threatened status.
and fragmentation
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
operations such as orange groves
. Another threat is predation
. The plant is apparently very attractive to white-tailed deer
and eastern cottontails
, which consume the herbage, and it plays host to many butterfly
species, including Long-tailed Skipper
(Urbanus proteus) and Southern Cloudywing
(Thorybes bathyllus). The seeds appear to be consumed quite often, possibly by beetle
s.
Many aspects of the plant's life history
are still unknown and more research is needed.
Fabaceae
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...
known by the common name pigeon wings, or sweet-scented pigeon wings. It is endemic to Central
Central Florida
Central Florida is a regional designation for the area surrounding Orlando in east central Florida, United States. The area represents the third largest population concentration in Florida, after the South Florida and Tampa Bay regions, respectively....
Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, where it was known most recently from 62 occurrences, but no current estimates of the total global population are available. The plant is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.
Characteristics
This a perennial herb or subshrubShrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
which grows up to half a meter tall from a woody taproot
Taproot
A taproot is an enlarged, somewhat straight to tapering plant root that grows vertically downward. It forms a center from which other roots sprout laterally.Plants with taproots are difficult to transplant...
, 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
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s occur in leaf axils, each bearing one or two fragrant blooms. The flower may be up to 5 centimeters 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
Resupination generally means being upside-down, supine, facing upward. The word is derived from the Latin. In a biological context, the concept is commonly expressed with the adjectives "resupinate" or "non-resupinate."-Examples in green plants:...
, with the reproductive parts curving around to point toward the back of the corolla; this forces a visiting insect to rub against them and therby transfer pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
. A second type of flower often occurs which is cleistogamous
Cleistogamy
Cleistogamy or automatic self-pollination describes the trait of certain plants to propagate by using non-opening, self-pollinating flowers...
: self-pollinating
Self-pollination
Self-pollination is a form of pollination that can occur when a flower has both stamen and a carpel in which the cultivar or species is self fertile and the stamens and the sticky stigma of the carpel contact each other in order to accomplish pollination...
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
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
. Both types bear fruit, a legume pod up to 5 centimeters long containing up to 9 reddish seeds a few millimeters in length. The seeds are sticky in texture and are dispersed
Seed dispersal
Seed dispersal is the movement or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic and biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant...
when they adhere to animals.
Habitat
This plant grows in undisturbed areas in Florida scrubFlorida scrub
Florida scrub is an endangered temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the state of Florida in the United States. It is found on coastal and inland sand ridges and is characterized by a xeromorphic plant community dominated by shrubs and dwarf oaks. Scrub soils, a type of entisol, are derived...
habitat, often in the transition
Ecotone
An ecotone is a transition area between two biomes but different patches of the landscape, such as forest and grassland. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local or regional...
between scrub and sandhill
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 become more oak dominated.Entisols are the typical...
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
Seminole State Forest
The Seminole State Forest is in the U.S. state of Florida. The forest is located in Central Florida, near Eustis.-References and external links:*...
, Lake Wales Ridge State Forest
Lake Wales Ridge State Forest
The Lake Wales Ridge State Forest is in the U.S. state of Florida. The forest is located on the Lake Wales Ridge in Central Florida, near Frostproof.-References and external links:*...
and National Wildlife Refuge
Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge
The Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System, located in four separated areas on the Lake Wales Ridge east of US 27 between Davenport and Sebring Florida. The 1,194 acre refuge was established in 1990, to protect a host of plants and...
, and Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek State Park
Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek
Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek is a Florida State Park, located about 10 miles east of Dundee, off US 27.-References and external links:* at...
. Many occurrences are located on the Avon Park Air Force Range
Avon Park Air Force Range
The Avon Park Air Force Range is a United States Air Force bombing range and air-ground training complex in the U.S. state of Florida located east of the city of Avon Park.-History:...
, where the military is required to monitor them because of the species' federally threatened status.
Endangered status
Habitat destructionHabitat destruction
Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose of...
and fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation as the name implies, describes the emergence of discontinuities in an organism's preferred environment , causing population fragmentation...
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
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
operations such as orange groves
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
. Another threat is predation
Predation
In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey . Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption...
. The plant is apparently very attractive to white-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
and eastern cottontails
Eastern Cottontail
The eastern cottontail is a New World cottontail rabbit, a member of the family Leporidae. It is one of the most common rabbit species in North America.-Distribution:...
, which consume the herbage, and it plays host to many butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
species, including Long-tailed Skipper
Long-tailed Skipper
The Long-tailed Skipper is a spread-winged skipper butterfly found throughout tropical and subtropical America, south to Argentina and north into the southern part of the United States of America. It cannot live in areas with prolonged frost...
(Urbanus proteus) and Southern Cloudywing
Thorybes bathyllus
The Southern Cloudywing , Thorybes bathyllus, is a North American butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. There are two main reasons why Southern Cloudywings can be difficult to identify: one is individual variation and the other is confusing seasonal forms. In the south, where it has two broods per...
(Thorybes bathyllus). The seeds appear to be consumed quite often, possibly by beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s.
Many aspects of the plant's life history
Life history
In sociological and anthropological research, a life history is the overall picture of the informant's or interviewee's life. The purpose of the interview is to be able to describe what it is like to be this particular person, that is, the one being interviewed.-Background:The method was first...
are still unknown and more research is needed.