One of my favourite flowers is the cute Shankupushpam, known worldwide as Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea). The luminescent blue flower with the yellow core is the most striking feature. The flower is also found in white colour with yellow core. The blue variety is mostly used for medicinal purposes. Here in Kerala, it is widely used as a temple flower.

In Kerala, the flower and the root has a major importance in Ayurveda medicine and is used for treatments of Leucorrhoea, infertility etc. The whole plant is considered as one of the main herbs for treating memory loss in Ayurveda.

The flower is quite popular amongst other South East Asian countries where they are used for food pigmentation and also served as a drink.