A small vine, fast-growing, and flowering. Very ornamental with vivid solitary flowers in bright blue and yellow or white center. All parts of the plant are edible, and their flowers are widely used as a food coloring and in the preparation of teas.
In Southeast Asia, the flower is used to color rice and pasta. In Burmese and Thai cuisine, flowers are also dipped in batter and fried. The flowers are rich in phytochemicals such as flavonoids and anthocyanins with antioxidant, hepatoprotective, and anti-diabetic activities.
Its name is allusive to the shape of the flower and the roots, when used in the form of tea, are emenagogues, that is, they cause menstruation. Perhaps this is one reason why this vine is so connected to the feminine world, sensuality, and fertility.
In regions close to the cane gulf it is used for green manure and, on the banks of rivers, where they grow spontaneously, their fruits fall into the water helping the dispersion of seeds; they are sticky and stick to certain animals that also guarantee the germination of new plants.
Malayas from the halmahera islands, ceram and buru, in the moluccas, dye their pareos blue using the petals of their flowers, this way their robes combined better with the marine indigo that surrounds them. (Raul canovas)
Botanical nomenclature: Clitoria ternatea var. pleniflora
Common name: Blue Double, Double Blue, Butterfly Pea, Blue Fairy, Blue Queen, Blue Mint, Ismenia
Family: Fabaceae
Origin: tropical equatorial Asia, Thailand and Malaysia
Height: 4 meters
Brightness: full sun, partial shading
Skip to content
