Pretty Pea Flower
For my sister’s birthday, I was buying her plants because she loves gardening. On an online nursery website, I found a beautiful flower called clitoria ternatea.
Everyday, when I entered the balcony to water the plant, I would say hello to each flower. Seeing these pretty flowers dry up, but not fall off, made me wonder what fruit would grow. Examining the plant, I found these small green pods.
Curious, I asked my sister if she would allow me to pluck one of the pods and see what was inside. She agreed, but on the condition our mother supervised. So, I called my mother and the three of us opened the pod.
In there were tiny little green colored balls, just like peas! I was was going to eat one, but my mother shook her head.So I waited for my mom to leave before I ate one.It was very yummy. When my mom came back, she said that it was a type of pea.
Curious again, I looked up the plant on the internet and found that it was indeed a type of pea.After some research, I learned that when the pods turn light brown, the peas become black seeds, ready for planting. There are 6 to 10 seeds per pod, but every pod I have opened, has had exactly 8.
I wanted to grow my own pretty pea flower plant, so I found out how to germinate these seeds. Then I learned more about the plant and how to care for it.
Seed Germination
Soak them for seven hours in water and plant them 4 inches apart. Put them in lightly acidic soil with a pH value of 6 – 7.5. pH is a measure which helps us to determine whether a liquid is acidic, neutral or an alkaline. After 30-45 days your first flower grows.
Distribution
This plant is native to certain parts of Asia but, but it was introduced to Africa, Australia, and America. In India, the flower isused in daily puja rituals.
Alternate Names
The peas of the clitoria ternatea are called ‘butterfly peas’, ‘blue peas’, ‘cordofan peas’, ‘Asian Pipgoenwings’ or ‘Dwarin Peas’.
There are two types of clitoria ternatea; clitoria ternatea-blue and clitoria ternatea-white. Another name for the plant isbluebelwine. The flower is also called Aparajita.
Physical Description
It is a perennial herbaceous plant, and its flowersbloom best in early January to late spring. The clitoria ternatea is a creeper, with elliptic, obtuse leaves. Obtuse leaves have simple rounded tips and are oval shaped.
Pests & Diseases
The following are the common diseases that affect clitoria ternatea.
Bacterial soft root is caused by harmful bacteria such as Erwina, Pectoberieam in the soil, that attack key parts of the root system. This makes the plant’s fruits or vegetables suffer.
Root rot is when the plant suffers from the rotting of roots. This is often due to the roots intertwining around themselves, or caused by harmful bacterial or fungal agents present in the soil.
Canker is when the plant has dead tissue which slowly grows over the years. Most of the time canker does not affect the plant severely, but sometimes it can be lethal. Animals and fungi can also cause canker. Rarely,fungicides or bactericides can help fix it, although most of the time you have to destroy the plant to prevent it from spreading. In the clitoria ternatea the only cause of canker is anthracose, which is a fungal infection.
Leaf spot is a disease which affects many plants. Visible symptoms of leaf spot are discolored parts of leaves. Leaf spot usually causes dead cells in the leaves. The main causes of leaf spot are bacteria or fungi. However, other rare causes of leaf spot can be environmental toxicity or insect attack.
Mildew is a common form of leaf spot which is harmful to the clitoria ternatea. It affects clitoria ternatea pods first. To ensure that the disease does not spread to the leaves, cut off these pods and dispose them. Mildew can cause green leafy foliage to turn yellow and brown and even die. To prevent mildew, water your plants from below the leaves and keep your plants in direct sunlight.
Application in Medicine
Clitoria ternatea is often used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine. For centuries, humans have used clitoria as a memory enhancer, antidepressant, and a nootropic. A nootropic enhances brain skills. Even nowadays, in various pain killers, clitoria ternatea extracts are used. Doses of clitoria root can be used to enhance brain function for a period of 10 – 15 hrs.
Clitoria ternatea can also be used as an immunosuppressant. Immunosuppressants lower the aggression of your immune system.
In some studies, clitoria ternatea, has demonstrated anti-inflamatory properties.
Clitoria ternatea has also exhibited some anti-diabetic properties. Leaf extracts have been fed to rats. These rats have shown significantly lower levels of blood sugars.
Agricultural Uses
Clitoria ternatea is often used as fodder for grazing animals. It is rich in nutrients. To be used as fodder, clitoria ternatea is harvested between 40-50 days of sprouting.
Animals feeding on foliage made of clitoria ternatea have lower acid detergent fiber content and are therefore easier to digest and yield more energy.
A rotational crop system involves growing one type of crop in one season and another type in another season. However, for this system to work you need an in-betweener to repair the damage done to the soil by the previous crop. Clitoria ternatea roots house nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium bacteria which help restore the nutrients in soil. So it is the ideal plant for crop rotation.
Culinary Uses
The clitoria ternatea- Blue can be used as food color and ‘clitoria tea’ or ‘Blue tea’ can be made out of it. It is a caffeine-free tea, as the ingredients are clitoria ternatea flowers, dried lemongrass, honey, ice, cold water and hot water. This tea turns purple if you put lemon,although it is not known why, one theory is because the pH level changes.
Ornamental Uses
Clitoria tea can be used as a dye. Its antioxidants promote health hair and skin growth. The pretty flower can also enhance the beauty of any balcony or fence.
After this there is only one thing left to learn, Spiritual Uses.
Spiritual Uses
Traditionally, the Butterfly Pea flower is said to be ruled by the planet Venus and connected to the element of water, which gives it the attributes of love, emotion, serenity, and protection.
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