Clitoria guianensis(Aubl.) Benth.

mauve bell

WFO wfo-0000174045 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 3 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 3 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Clitoria guianensis, photographed by Tsssss
fig. a Tsssss, CC0 1.0 / 2020-09-22 / obs. 100454230
Clitoria guianensis, photographed by Tsssss
fig. b Tsssss, CC0 1.0 / obs. 100531226
Clitoria guianensis, photographed by Tsssss
fig. c Tsssss, CC0 1.0 / obs. 100454256
Clitoria guianensis, photographed by Tsssss
fig. d Tsssss, CC0 1.0 / obs. 100454289
Clitoria guianensis, photographed by Tsssss
fig. e Tsssss, CC0 1.0 / obs. 100454199
Clitoria guianensis, photographed by Mario Barroso
fig. f Mario Barroso, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 165425702
Clitoria guianensis, photographed by Tsssss
fig. g Tsssss, CC0 1.0 / obs. 100531204
Clitoria guianensis, photographed by Tsssss
fig. h Tsssss, CC0 1.0 / obs. 100531251

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 22 botanical countries

Regions where Clitoria guianensis is native: Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Argentina Northeast, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Panamá, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela Mexico GulfMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestArgentina NortheastBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHondurasPanamáParaguaySurinameVenezuela
Native distribution of Clitoria guianensis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Honduras HON
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Suriname SUR
Venezuela VEN
Mexico Gulf MXG NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 16 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Clitoria chapadensis Malme
  • Clitoria guianensis f. imperfecta Fantz
  • Clitoria guianensis var. guianensis
  • Clitoria guyanensis (Aubl.) Standl.
  • Clitoria guyanensis f. chapadensis (Malme) Rizzini
  • Clitoria subsessilis Rose
  • Crotalaria guianensis Aubl.
  • Crotalaria longifolia Lam.
  • Neurocarpum angustifolium Kunth
  • Neurocarpum campestre C.Mart.
  • Neurocarpum frigidulum Mart. ex Benth.
  • Neurocarpum guianense (Aubl.) Desv.
  • Neurocarpum longifolium Mart. ex Benth.
  • Neurocarpum resupinatum Bunbury
  • Rhombifolium canescens Rich. ex DC.
  • Ternatea guianensis (Aubl.) Kuntze

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol CLGU2. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.