The first reference to the genus, which includes an illustration of the plant, was made in 1678 by Jakób Breyne, a Polish naturalist, who described it as Flos clitoridis ternatensibus, meaning 'Ternatean flower of the clitoris'.

[3][4] Many vernacular names of these flowers in different languages are similarly based on references to female external genitalia.

[5] Controversies existed in the past among botanists regarding the good taste of the naming of the genus.

Some less explicit alternatives, like Vexillaria (Eaton 1817) and Nauchea (Descourtilz 1826), were proposed, but they failed to prosper, and the name Clitoria has survived to this day.

[6] As of June 2021[update], Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:[1] These plants are native to tropical, subtropical and temperate areas of the world, ranging through the temperate and tropical Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, southern China, and Western Australia and the Northern Territory.