Butterfly Pea Clitoria mariana

Butterfly Pea is a low-growing, dense, evergreen, perennial twining vine in the pea family that is native to the southeastern United States and often found in dry open forests or rocky or sandy woodlands. This plant has trailing stems, but seldom climbs and stays close to the ground. The twining vine is occasionally erect and boasts large, showy, lavender-pink, pea-like flowers. The flowers blossom from spring into the fall and are usually solitary, but occasionally up to 3. The blossoms appear in the axils of the plant's compound leaves.

This plant does best in dry sandy or loamy soil with good drainage. It prefers light shade, but will tolerate full sun and nutritionally poor soils. It is capable of fixing nitrogen into the soil.

This lovely plant is noted for its lavender-blue flowers with their large, rounded banner and trifoliate leaves, dark green above and a light, grayish-green beneath.

Quick ID Hints:

• Young stems,leaves covered with reddish-brown hairs
• Funnel-form flowers in spring, single or hose-in-hose
• Low, dense shrub with crowded evergreen leaves in tiers
• Calyx rounded, 5-lobed, short

Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems:

No known diseases or insect pests. The plant is habitat dependent and can be eliminated from an area by a change in land use or by competitive plants.