チョウマメは、蔓を絡ませて巻き上がり、多くの花を咲かせます。ラテン語の属名クリトリアは花の形状に由来。花言葉は「小さな恋」です。
Butterfly Pea have vines entwined with their supports and roll up, producing many flowers. The Latin genus name Critria is derived from the shape of the flower. Flower language is “little love”.
【仮名】チョウマメ, バタフライピー, クリトリア
【和名】蝶豆
【英名】Butterfly Pea, Clitoria
【学名】Clitoria ternatea
【誕生】09/ 12
【開花】06, 07, 08, 09, 10月
【花色】Blue
チョウマメ
チョウマメの来歴
チョウマメはマメ科の多年草または１年草です。原種は東南アジアからインドにかけて約30種が分布。古くから花が染料に、実が食料に、葉が飼料などに用いられました。日本へは江戸時代末期に渡来。支えに蔓を絡ませて巻き上がり、多くの花を咲かせます。花言葉は「小さな恋」。
チョウマメの名前
チョウマメの和名は英名バタフライピーの直訳。花の咲く姿が「蝶」のように見える豆です。ラテン語の属名クリトリアは花の形状に由来。ほぼ「旗弁」で占められる花冠の真ん中に「翼弁」があり、その中に小さな「竜骨弁」があります。種名のテルナテアは「３つの」という意味。
チョウマメの姿形
チョウマメの茎は長く伸びる蔓に軟毛が生えます。葉は先の尖った小さな楕円形で、鳥の羽のように左右に並び、先端に１枚ついて互生。花は葉腋に蝶のような形で単生する青色の一重咲きですが、園芸種に橙色や桃色、八重咲きもあります。花後は豆果を結び、莢の中に種子を形成。
チョウマメの利用
チョウマメの花を搾った汁は鮮やかな青色。成分はデルフィニジン系色素のテルナチンです。台湾では青いハーブティーとして飲用。眼精疲労や睡眠障害を和らげ、利尿や血行を促します。ライムやレモンなど酸性の果汁を垂らすと紫色に変化。タイでは衣類の染色にも用いられます。
Butterfly Pea
History of Butterfly Pea
Butterfly Pea is a perennial or annual herb of the Fabaceae family. About 30 species are distributed from Southeast Asia to India. Since ancient times, the flowers have been used as dyes, the beans as food, and the leaves as fodder. Came to Japan at the end of the Edo period. The vines are entwined with the support and rolled up to bloom many flowers. Flower language is “little love”.
Name of Butterfly Pea
The Japanese name of Butterfly Pea is a literal translation of the English name butterfly pea. It is a bean that looks like a “butterfly” when it blooms. The Latin genus name Critria is derived from the shape of the flower. In the middle of the corolla, which is mostly occupied by the “flag petal”, there is a “wing petal”, in which there is a small “keel petal”. The species name Ternatea means “three”.
Appearance of Butterfly Pea
The stem of the Butterfly Pea grows long vines with soft hairs. The leaves are small and oval with pointed tips, arranged side by side like a bird’s wings with one leaf at the tip, and alternate. The flowers are blue single flowers that grow solitary in the leaf axils like butterflies, but there are orange, pink, and double flowers in horticultural species. After flowering, it bears legumes and forms seeds in the pods.
Use of Butterfly Pea
The juice obtained by squeezing the flowers of Butterfly Pea is bright blue. The active ingredient is ternatin, a delphinidin pigment. In Taiwan, it is drunk as a blue herbal tea. Relieves eye strain and sleep disorders, promotes diuresis and blood circulation. If you add acidic juice such as lime or lemon, it turns purple. In Thailand, it is also used for dyeing clothes.
