Clitoria ternatea, commonly known as Asian pigeonwings,[1] bluebellvine, blue pea, butterfly pea, cordofan pea or Darwin pea,[2] is a plant species belonging to the family Fabaceae, endemic and native to the Indonesian island of Ternate.[3]: 215
Etymology[edit]
The genus name Clitoria is a direct translation from the local name of these plants in the Ternate language, telang, which literally means "clitoris"[citation needed], due to their blossoms' shape that resembles the shape of a human vulva. The first reference to the genus, which includes an illustration of the plant, was made in 1678 by Jakób Breyne, a Polish naturalist, who described it as Flos clitoridis ternatensibus, meaning 'Ternatean flower of the clitoris'.[4][5] The species name is derived from the name of the island where Botanist Carl Linnaeus's specimens originated from: the Ternate Island, located in the northern part of the Maluku Islands.[6][3]
Distribution[edit]
This plant is native to equatorial Asia, including locations in South Asia and Southeast Asia but has also been introduced to Africa, Australia and the Americas.
Description[edit]
It is a perennial herbaceous plant, with elliptic, obtuse leaves. It grows as a vine or creeper, doing well in moist, neutral soil. Its most striking feature is the color of its flowers, a vivid deep blue; solitary, with light yellow markings. They are about 4 cm (11⁄2 in) long by 3 cm (11⁄4 in) wide. Some varieties yield white flowers and pink.
The fruits are 5–7 cm (2–23⁄4 in) long, flat pods with six to ten seeds in each pod. They are edible when tender.
It is grown as an ornamental plant and as a revegetation species (e.g., in coal mines in Australia), 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 (a process called nitrogen fixing), therefore, this plant is also used to improve soil quality through the decomposition of nitrogen rich plant material.
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