Clitoria ternatea

Clitoria ternatea

Family: Fabaceae

Sub family: Papilionoideae

Common name: Butterfly pea

This plant grows as a climbing or trailing vine, becoming woody with age. Its pinnately compound leaves are arranged alternately and consist of 5 to 7 leaflets. The complete, perfect, zygomorphic flowers are solitary appearing in the leaf axils. The calyx has fused green sepals, and the corolla features blue petals, with the lower petal enlarged to form a banner and the upper two slightly fused to create the keel (papilionaceous). The plant has diadelphous stamens, and the fruit is a dry, brown legume at maturity.

In traditional Ayurvedic medicine, this plant is used to treat a variety of ailments, including fever, inflammation, pain, and diabetes. It is also believed to enhance memory, reduce stress, and serve as an anxiolytic, antidepressant, anticonvulsant, tranquilizing, and sedative agent. The bright blue petals of the butterfly pea flower are commonly used in herbal tea drinks and have been utilized as a natural food colorant. Additionally, the plant is grown as an ornamental due to its attractive flowers.