''Passiflora alata'', the winged-stem passion flower, is a species of flowering plant. It is an evergreen vine, growing to or more, which bears an edible type of passion fruit. It is native to the Amazon, from Peru to eastern Brazil.

Names

The local peoples refer to it as ''ouvaca'', meaning "red star" due to the appearance of its flower. Other names include fragrant grenadilla, and ''maracuja de refresco''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''alata'' means "winged", referring to the 4-winged stems.

Description

The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are oval or oblong, long and wide. The fragrant flower is wide, with red curved tepals, and a prominent fringed corona in bands of purple and white giving the appearance of stripes. It usually blooms around late summer or early fall, needing full sun exposure. ''P. alata'' attracts

bees Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

and

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

. The solitary fruit is highly prized by local people. It is egg-shaped, yellow to bright orange, long and in diameter. It weighs from .

Cultivation

In temperate zones ''P. alata'' is usually cultivated indoors, though it can also be grown outside in areas where the temperature does not fall below . It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

Medicinal uses

In Brazil, ''P. alata'' is officially recognized as a phytomedicine, and was included in first edition of Brazilian Pharmacopoeia in 1929. It is well known in folk medicine throughout South America, though the exact pharmacological composition of the plant is little understood and requires more study.

References

External links

* * alata Flora of Brazil Flora of South America Flora of the Amazon {{Passifloraceae-stub