Description

White Butterfly Pea

Pea flowers for a biennial tendril sex climbing vegetation, alias sweet peas, peas. 90-180 cm tall, stems often up to 2 m long, winged, pinnate, with 2-5 flowers. Pea flower varieties more, usually half a double and double species, the flower is beautiful, butterfly, design and colour are bright, has white, blue, purple, pansy has also spotted or edge, such as the complex colour varieties.
Clitoria ternatea, common names including butterfly pea, blue pea, Kordofan pea and Asian pigeonwings, is a plant species belonging to the Fabaceae family. The flowers of this vine have the shape of human female genitals, hence the Latin name of the genus “Clitoria”, from “clitoris”. (Synonyms: Clitoris Principessa.)

It is a perennial herbaceous plant, with elliptic, obtuse leaves. It grows as a vine or creeper, doing well in moist, neutral soil. The most striking feature of this plant is its vivid deep blue flowers; solitary, with light yellow markings. They are about 4 cm long by 3 cm wide. There are some varieties that yield white flowers.

The fruits are 5-7 cm long, flat pods with 6 to 10 seeds in each pod. They are edible when tender.

It is grown as an ornamental plant and as a re-vegetation species, requiring little care when cultivated. As a legume, its roots form a symbiotic association with soil bacteria known as rhizobia, which transform atmospheric N2 into a plant usable form, therefore, this plant is also used to improve soil quality through the decomposition of N-rich tissue.

In Southeast Asia, the flowers are used to colour food. In Malay cooking, an aqueous extract is used to colour glutinous rice for kuih Ketan (also known as pulut tai Tai in Peranakan/Nyonya cooking) and in Nyonya chang. In Kelantan, it is used to colour white rice for Nasi kerabu. In Thailand, a syrupy blue drink is made called nam dok anchan (น้ำดอกอัญชัน), it is sometimes consumed with a drop of sweet lime juice to increase acidity and turn the juice into pink-purple. In Burmese and Thai cuisine the flowers are also dipped in batter and fried.