Common name: Butterfly Pea • Hindi: अपराजिता Aparajita • Manipuri: অপরাজিতা Aparajita • Tamil: சங்கு கன்னிக்கொடி Kannikkodi • Malayalam: സന്ഗ പുശ്പമ Sangu pushpam • Marathi: Shankha Pushpa शंख पुष्प • Konkani: Shankha Pushpa शंख पुष्प
Botanical name: Clitoria ternatea Family: Fabaceae (pea family)
This wonderful twining plant
generously bears quite large flowers (about 2" across) which are a beautiful
shade of vivid cobalt blue with a white throat.
The flowers are presented upside down - the "keel"
petal appears on the top rather than the underside.
A native of subtropical America and Asia, the butterfly pea is beautiful. A
vine that can climb to 9 feet in a hot summer. The flowers are produced in
late summer, deep blue with a yellow to white pattern in the center of the
lower petal. A member of the pea family, elongated peas are produced and
seeds can be collected for sowing the following year.
The botanical name comes from the resemblance to intimate parts
of the human anatomy.
Identification credit: Radhika Vathsan
|