butterfly pea

noun

1. any of several leguminous plants of the genus Clitoria, as C. mariana, of North America, having pale-blue flowers.

Word History and Origins

Origin of butterfly pea¹

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60

Example Sentences

Last week, the FDA approved three natural color additives — calcium phosphate, Galdieria extract blue and butterfly pea flower extract — to replace them.

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The ice cream, with butterfly pea coconut milk and Thai milk tea favours, was modelled after the blue ceramic plates and flower details of the pagoda, said ice cream maker Pop Icon.

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To Lee, a simple pavlova’s snowy peaks of whipped sugar and egg white offer a blank canvas for dramatic splashes of red and blue, the latter of which Lee achieves with butterfly pea extract.

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The scene was punctuated by colorful, pre-dinner cocktails, such as a vodka-spiked lemonade that morphed from clear to purple thanks to the organic butterfly pea flower floating in each glass.

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He uses natural food coloring to make the bread: saffron to color the dough yellow, and an infusion made from the leaves of the blue butterfly pea flower, or clitoria ternatea, to get the blue.

Read more on Seattle Times