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Passiflora
incarnata L.
Standardized Common
Name: Passionflower
Other Common Names: Apricot Vine, May
Apple, Maypops, Wild Passionflower
Family: Passifloraceae
Taxonomy: Passiflora includes over 400 species of tropical vines, almost
all native to the New World; P. incarnata is one of only a few species
whose range extends to eastern North America.
Description: Deciduous perennial
climbing vine, up to 10 m long. Stems herbaceous; thin tendrils borne in leaf
axils, ending in spiral coils. Leaves alternate, stipulate, petiolate; stipules
small, deciduous; petioles 1–4 cm long, grooved and sometimes twisted, with two
glands at base of leaf blade; blade palmately 3(–5)-lobed, 6–15 cm long, about
as long as broad; lobes ovate, separated by deep sinuses; leaf base broad,
narrowing abruptly at petiole attachment; lobe apices acute; margins finely
serrate; upper surface glossy, lower surface pubescent. Flowers andromonoecious
(some bisexual, others functionally male), solitary on long stout pedicels,
subtended by 3 bracts; bracts (3–)4–6(–8) mm long, margins serrate and
glandular. Sepals 5, green below, white to lavender above, 2.5–3.5 cm long,
with soft awn 1–5 mm long. Petals 5, white or lavender to bluish, usually
shorter than sepals. Corona of numerous filaments; outer 1.5–3 cm long, white
to pale lavender with darker purple color in wide band; inner 2–4 mm long.
Sexual parts raised on a sturdy stalk (androgynophore). Anthers 5, yellow, to 1
cm long, hanging down from outward-spreading filaments; filaments thick, green,
dark-spotted. Ovary above anthers green, broadly ovoid, trilocular, with 3 long
styles and bulbous stigmas; styles recurved in bisexual flowers or spreading
upward in male flowers. Fruit a berry, green or yellowish to brownish, 4–7 cm,
ellipsoid, unilocular at maturity; flesh edible and tasty, acidic; seeds
ellipsoid, surrounded by arils, 4–6 mm long, brownish, with reticulate surface.
Parts
in Commerce:
Whole herb, collected at time of flowering and fruiting
Identification: Reproductive parts
should be sought out in the material for better confirmation of identity.
Stems
- Usually about 5
mm thick; not at all woody, often hollow, with weak longitudinal
striations
- Glabrous or weakly
pubescent with tiny hairs
- With slender
green tendrils ending in spiral coils
Leaves
- Petioles long,
grooved, with two nectary glands at apex
- 6–15 cm long,
about as broad as long, deeply 3-lobed (rarely 5-lobed)
- Lobes ovate to
broadly lanceolate; blade divided for well over half the length of the
leaf
- Base broad and
flat with rounded corners, terminating in a point formed by the fusion of
the 3 main veins with the petiole
- Lobe apices
acute
- Margins
shallowly and inconspicuously serrate
- Primary veins 3,
palmately radiating into leaf lobes; secondary venation branching
pinnately from the main veins
- Upper surface
dark green, glossy; lower surface pubescent with short hairs
- Taste weak,
sometimes slightly bitter
Flowers
- 5–9 cm in
diameter, with extra whorl of colorful filaments above perianth, and with
stamens and ovary raised above receptacle on a stalk-like androgynophore
- Subtended by 3
bracts; bracts 4–8 mm long, serrate, glandular
- Sepals 5, 25–35
mm long, spreading; green below, white to pale mauve or lavender above,
with soft awns 1–3(–5) mm long
- Petals 5,
slightly shorter than sepals, spreading; white to pale lavender
- Corona of
numerous spreading filaments, longest often exceeding perianth; white to
pale lavender at bases and apices, central portions heavily spotted with
dark purple; tips of longer filaments usually hooked
- Androgynophore
green with darker spots
- Anthers 5, ca. 1
cm long, pale yellow, hanging horizontally from underside of broad green,
dark-spotted filaments
- Ovary green,
ovoid; styles 3, long, usually bent down, with swollen stigmas
Fruit (at maturity)
- Elliptical,
somewhat flattened, 4–7 cm long
- Lime green to
yellowish or brownish
- Outer layer
tough; flesh soft, edible
- Seeds 4–6 mm
long, elliptical, brownish, with bumpy surface
Adulterants: Passiflora
incarnata is occasionally confused with other cultivated species of Passiflora.
Passiflora edulis Sims (Purple Granadilla, known for its delicious
fruits) bears considerable resemblance to P. incarnata. Distinguishing
features include the following:
- Stem thicker,
tougher
- Leaves sometimes
to 25 cm long and broad
- Young leaves
often unlobed
- Serrate leaf
margins with teeth small but more prominent than in P. incarnata,
areas of margin beneath teeth slightly rounded
- Bracts
subtending flowers ca. 2.5 cm long
- Filaments purple
in basal third; outer portions white, crinkled
- Fruit purple at
maturity, subglobose; seeds 3–4 mm long
References:
British Herbal Medicine
Association. British Herbal Pharmacopoeia. BHMA; 1996:148–149.
May PG, Spears EE. Andromonoecy and variation in
phenotypic gender of Passiflora incarnata (Passifloraceae). Amer J
Bot. 1988;75:1830–1841.
Radford AE, Ahles HE, Bell CR. Manual of the
Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North
Carolina Press; 1968.
Vanderplank J. Passion Flowers, 3rd
ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; 2000.
Wunderlin RP. Guide to the Vascular Plants of
Florida. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida; 1998.
Figure 51: Passiflora incarnata.
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