I first encountered Clitoria fairchildiana outside the Pasir Panjang Nursery office where I now work. It is a beautiful tree that is also known via another synonymous botanical name, Clitoria racemosa. There is very little information about this tree on the Internet and I got to know more about it when I flipped the pages of a National Parks Board (NParks) publication entitled ‘Trees of our Garden City – a guide to the common trees of Singapore’ that was edited by Tee Swee Ping and Wee Mei Lynn.
Clitoria fairchildiana is referred to via a handful of common names which include the butterfly pea tree and Philippine pigeonwings. It is an evergreen, small- to medium-sized tree that attain a height of 15 m. The crown is umbrella-shaped with numerous branches that take on a weeping habit. In Singapore, Clitoria fairchildiana is planted along roadsides, in parks, garedns and open spaces. It can be used to achieve a ‘closed forest effect’ by planting in groves.
It is a fast- and large-growing legume belonging to the bean family, Fabaceae and has those characteristic trifoliate leaves. Largely distributed in Brazil, Clitoria fairchildiana produces beautiful flowers handing from pendant spikes that can be white, pale blue or purple in colour.
The flowers of this tree resemble those produced by the blue pea (Clitoria ternatea) which is a related species. The flowers of the latter plant better know for being traditionally used to colour various Peranakan (Straits Chinese) confectionaries. Interestingly, Clitoria fairchildiana is a large tree whereas Clitoria ternatea is a small, wiry vine.
The fruits of Clitoria fairchildiana are large woody pods that can measure up to 20 cm long. I once kept a few mature dry brown pods in my room and I was startled late one night when one of them suddenly split open! When that pod split, it emitted a loud crackling noise and the flat, disc-like seeds were purged in various directions.
You may have noticed the strange-sounding genus that this tree has. The genus name Clitoria was indeed derived from the word clitoris! Linnaeus, who coined the name, was inspired by the appearance of flowers produced by plants belonging this particular genus, which resembled that certain part of the female anatomy!
Special thanks go to my colleague, Keneric Ng, who has helped to take the excellent photos of the Clitoria fairchildiana tree that is growing outside our office.
Gardening with Wilson 