Centrosema plumieri
(Turpin ex Pers.) Benth.
Fabaceae
Clitoria plumieri Turpin ex Pers.
Common Name: Butterfly Pea
General Information
Centrosema plumieri is a perennial trailing and climbing herb with annual stems growing up from a woody base[
310- Title
- Plant Resources of Southeast Asia
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://proseanet.org/
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
]. The vigorous stems scramble over the ground or twine up into other plants for support[
375- Title
- Grassland Species - Profiles
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Gbase/Default.htm
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Terse information on over 650 species of plants that grow in grassland, including trees, shrubs and perennial plants as well as grasses. Gives a brief description of the plant, its range and habitat and some of its uses.
].
The plant is sometimes grown as a green manure crop, or planted as a ground cover in plantations, though it seems to be losing favour to the related C. Pubescens[
310- Title
- Plant Resources of Southeast Asia
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://proseanet.org/
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
]. The leaves are harvested from the wild as a food crop in a few areas in west Africa, though it is not eaten in most other areas. In areas where it is eaten, the leaves are sometimes sold in local markets[
617- Title
- Traditional Vegetables in Benin
- Publication
-
- Author
- Achigan-Dako E. Et al
- Publisher
- Darwin Initiative; International Foundation for Science
- Year
- 2009
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Issued as a PDF on the Internet, it contains basic information on over 250 species of plants used for food in Benin.
].
Known Hazards
None known
Botanical References
Range
S. America - Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana; C. America - Panama to southern Mexico; Caribbean.
Habitat
The plant can invade fallow land in its first stages after cultivation[
617- Title
- Traditional Vegetables in Benin
- Publication
-
- Author
- Achigan-Dako E. Et al
- Publisher
- Darwin Initiative; International Foundation for Science
- Year
- 2009
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Issued as a PDF on the Internet, it contains basic information on over 250 species of plants used for food in Benin.
].
Properties
| Edibility Rating |  |
| Other Uses Rating |  |
| Habit | Perennial Climber |
| Height | 0.00 m |
| Cultivation Status | Cultivated, Wild |
Cultivation Details
Plants are not adapted to acid soils[
310- Title
- Plant Resources of Southeast Asia
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://proseanet.org/
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
]. They are reasonably shade tolerant[
310- Title
- Plant Resources of Southeast Asia
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://proseanet.org/
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
].
The mature yield of biomass from a hectare can be up to 16 tonnes[
310- Title
- Plant Resources of Southeast Asia
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://proseanet.org/
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
].
This species performed better than C. pubescens in trials in Florida[
310- Title
- Plant Resources of Southeast Asia
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://proseanet.org/
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
].
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[
200- Title
- The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Huxley. A.
- Publisher
- MacMillan Press
- Year
- 1992
- ISBN
- 0-333-47494-5
- Description
- Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
].
Edible Uses
Leaves - cooked and eaten as a vegetable[
617- Title
- Traditional Vegetables in Benin
- Publication
-
- Author
- Achigan-Dako E. Et al
- Publisher
- Darwin Initiative; International Foundation for Science
- Year
- 2009
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Issued as a PDF on the Internet, it contains basic information on over 250 species of plants used for food in Benin.
].
Medicinal
None known
Agroforestry Uses:
A shade-tolerant cover crop in plantations of cocoa, rubber, coconut and oil palm, though it has now been largely replaced by the related C. pubescens[
310- Title
- Plant Resources of Southeast Asia
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://proseanet.org/
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
].
Plants nodulate well, fixing good amounts of atmospheric nitrogen, They are used as green manure in sugar cane and in grassland improvement[
46- Title
- Dictionary of Economic Plants.
- Publication
-
- Author
- Uphof. J. C. Th.
- Publisher
- Weinheim
- Year
- 1959
- ISBN
- -
- Description
- An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
,
310- Title
- Plant Resources of Southeast Asia
- Publication
-
- Author
-
- Website
- http://proseanet.org/
- Publisher
-
- Year
- 0
- ISBN
-
- Description
- Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
].
Other Uses
None known
Propagation
Seed -
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Useful Tropical Plants Database 2014 by
Ken Fern,
web interface by
Ajna Fern
with help from
Richard Morris.
