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2012, HANOVER, N.H. -- ERDC Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) summer contract Research Technician Trudy Fadden inventories, by height and number, the trifoliate leaf structure of pigeon-wing recently in CRREL’s greenhouse. Pigeon-wing, clitoria fragrans, is a trifoliate, meaning that it has three leaflets. It is a rare species of flowering plant in the legume family.
An endangered plant of central Florida and federally listed as a threatened species of the United States pigeon-wing grows on Avon Park Air Force Range, Fla., an active bombing range that covers approximately 106,000 acres.
CRREL agronomists are conducting plant propagation studies to learn more about what conditions are needed for this rare plant to thrive. Fadden is a teacher the rest of the year, teaching science to seventh- and eighth-graders at Blue Mountain School in Wells River, Vt.