Pukinggan
Clitoria ternatea · Butterfly pea
- Names in the book
- Kolokantig̃, Pakingag̃, Tag.; Kolokatig̃, Vis.; Butterfly-pea, Eng.
- Used for
- ConstipationUrinary
- Colours
- flowerblue, white
- Native range
- Tropical Asia; exact origin debated
- In the Philippines, per the book
- Common along the roads and in gardens. Flowers in July and November.
- Family
- Fabaceae, filed in the book under Leguminosæ. (Papilionaceæ.)
- Printed as
- Clitoria ternatea, L.
- Sources
- Page 92 on Project Gutenberg · Wikipedia
The plant today
Clitoria ternatea, commonly known as Shankhupushpam (conch-shaped flower), Asian pigeonwings, bluebellvine, blue pea, butterfly pea, cordofan pea, or Darwin pea, is a plant species belonging to the family Fabaceae and native to the Indonesian island of Ternate. In Indian Ayurveda it is commonly known by the name aparajita.
Excerpt from “Clitoria ternatea” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sa Tagalog
Ang clitoria ternatea, karaniwang kilala bilang pukingan, puki-reyna, balog-balog o blue ternate, ay isang espesye ng halaman na kabilang sa pamilyang Fabaceae, na endemiko at katutubo sa pulo ng Ternate sa Indonesya. Sa Indiya, pinagpipitagan ito bilang banal na bulaklak, na ginagamit sa arawang ritwal ng puja.
Sipi mula sa “Pukingan” sa Tagalog Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 481 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 50 provinces, most often Davao del Norte (55), Metropolitan Manila (47), Davao del Sur (29), Zamboanga del Norte (22), Negros Occidental (21), Cebu (19), Davao Oriental (15), Negros Oriental (13), and 42 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
The pounded seeds mixed with oil are used locally for painful joints. They possess purgative and emetic properties and Dr. J. Shartt has employed a mixture of the powdered roasted seeds, 8 grams, with double the quantity of acid tartrate of potassium. Its action is gentle, but sure. The alcoholic extract of the root, a soft, brown, resinous substance with an odor recalling that of jalap, is a very active cathartic, producing sharp effects in doses of 30–60 centigrams; in fact it produces such severe tenesmus that its use in such doses should not be recommended.
The root bark is used internally in an infusion (4–8 grams to 1 liter of water) as an emollient in irritability of the bladder and urethra and has been recommended for such a purpose by Mooden Sheriff. It is a diuretic which frequently acts as a purgative, a fact that is not surprising in view of the above-mentioned properties of the alcoholic extract.
The roasted seeds used as a purgative are so trustworthy that they deserve the further attention of physicians.
Botanical description
A vine very well known by its blue flowers. Leaves alternate with 3 pairs of oval leaflets. Stipules persistent. Flowers axillary, solitary, 1–1½′ in long diameter. Calyx in 5 acute divisions, the two upper ones smaller. Corolla papilionaceous. Standard open, notched at the end. Keel shorter than the wings and covered by them. Stamens 10, 9 united and 1 free. Stigma downy, thick. Pod full of short hairs, with more than 6 surrounded with a tow-like substance, reniform, with black spots.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Active-intelligent and biodegradable sodium alginate films loaded with Clitoria ternatea anthocyanin-rich extract to preserve and monitor food freshness
- Antioxidant, cytotoxic, and antibacterial activities of Clitoria ternatea flower extracts and anthocyanin-rich fraction
- Clitoria ternatea blue petal extract protects against obesity, oxidative stress, and inflammation induced by a high-fat, high-fructose diet in C57BL/6 mice