Passiflora caerulea

Passiflora caerulea, the blue passionflower,<ref name=BSBI07>Template:BSBI 2007</ref> bluecrown passionflower<ref>Template:PLANTS</ref> or common passion flower, is a species of flowering plant native to South America that has been introduced elsewhere.

It forms a vigorous, deciduous or semi-evergreen tendril-bearing vine growing to Template:Cvt or more. Its leaves are palmately lobed, and its fragrant flowers are blue-white with a prominent fringe of coronal filaments in bands of blue, white, yellow, and brown. The ovoid orange fruit grows to Template:Cvt across.

The fruit is edible, but is sometimes described as having an unpalatable or unpleasant flavour. In South America, the plant is known for its medicinal properties, and is used by both the Toba and the Maka peoples.

Description

File:Passiflora caerulea (makro close-up).jpg

Passiflora caerulea flower

Passiflora caerulea is a woody vine capable of growing to Template:Convert high where supporting trees are available.<ref name = "keys">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The leaves are alternate, palmately five-lobed (sometimes three, seven, or nine lobes), and are up to Template:Convert in length while being linear-oblong shaped.<ref name = "PIER">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The base of each leaf has a flagellate-twining tendril Template:Convert long, which twines around supporting vegetation to hold the plant up.<ref name = "keys"/>

The flower is complex, about Template:Convert in diameter,<ref name = "PIER"/> with the five sepals and petals similar in appearance, whitish in colour, surmounted by a corona of blue or violet filaments, then five greenish-yellow stamens and three purple stigmas.<ref name = "keys"/> The fruit is an oval orange-yellow berry, Template:Convert long by Template:Convert in diameter, containing numerous seeds.<ref name = "keys"/>

Chemical constituents

Compared to P. incarnata, this plant contains higher amounts of the MAO-inhibitor harmine.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Etymology

The specific epithet caerulea means "blue" and refers to the blue coronal filaments.<ref name="RHSLG">Template:Cite book</ref>

Cultivation

Passiflora caerulea is widely cultivated as a wall-climber or as groundcover. It is a hardy species, able to survive winter temperatures as low as Template:Cvt,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> although it requires a sheltered position facing south or west (in the Northern Hemisphere). It can become invasive, the twining shoots constantly appearing unless eradicated. It is the only Passiflora species that volunteers in California. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Cultivars

File:Passiflora caerulea Constance Elliot (3).jpg

White-flowered cultivar P. caerulea 'Constance Elliott'

A number of cultivars have been produced from the species:

• 'Chinensis' (corona filaments paler blue)
• 'Constance Elliott' was raised by Lucombe, Pince & Co in Exeter, Great Britain in 1884. It has pure white, fragrant flowers; not as free-flowering as many other clones. It has also won the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.<ref name = RHSPF>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• 'Pierre Pomie', a pale pink flower form

Uses

The fruit is edible to humans when ripe, but its flavour has been described as bland,<ref name="RHSAZ">Template:Cite book</ref> undesirable<ref name="cabi">Template:Cite journal</ref> or insipid.<ref name="tetraphyllin b" /> If allowed to fully ripen in a warm climate and fall naturally from the vine, it has a mild blackberry flavour,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web

}}</ref> though with a lower sugar content than commonly eaten species.Template:Citation needed

File:Blue Passion Flower and Fruit.jpg

P. caerulea flower and fruit

A tea can be made of the flower or leaves; but the leaves contain tetraphyllin B and epi-tetraphyllin B, cyanogenic glycosides that liberate hydrogen cyanide when activated by enzymes. It is possible to boil away most of the cyanide.<ref name="tetraphyllin b">DS Seiglera, KC Spencera, WS Statlerb, EE Connb, JE Dunnb, 'Tetraphyllin B and epitetraphyillin B sulphates: Novel cyanogenic glucosides from Passiflora caerulea and P. alato-caerulea Template:Webarchive', Phytochemistry, 21/9 (1982), 2277-2285.</ref>

In South America, the plant is known for its medicinal uses. It is used in both herbal tea and dietary supplements, as well as in marmalades, ice creams, syrups and beverages.<ref name="cabi" /><ref name="mendiondo">Template:Cite journal</ref> It is also used by the indigenous Argentinian Toba and Maka people.<ref name="cabi" /><ref name="mendiondo" />

Passiflora caerulea is sometimes used as a rootstock, to which is grafted a scion of the edible P. edulis.<ref name="nelliekelly-passionfruit">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In culture

Template:See also The passion flower is the national flower of Paraguay. Its intricate structure has generated Christian symbolism, each part representing a different part of the Passion of Christ.

Gallery

• Flower
  Flower
• Fruit
  Fruit
• Flower
  Flower
• 'Constance Elliot', a white flowered cultivar
  'Constance Elliot', a white flowered cultivar
• 'Pierre Pomie', a pale pink flowered cultivar
  'Pierre Pomie', a pale pink flowered cultivar
• Peculiarity: two fused filaments force anthers upwards, displaying pollen beds otherwise not visible from this perspective.
  Peculiarity: two fused filaments force anthers upwards, displaying pollen beds otherwise not visible from this perspective.
• Flower
  Flower
• Seeds, the red gel-like substance around them removed
  Seeds, the red gel-like substance around them removed

External links

• Topwalks.net: Passiflora caerulea