Passiflora ''Passiflora'', known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family Passifloraceae. ''Passiflora'' species are widely cultivated for their striking flowers, fla ...

caerulea'', the blue passionflower, bluecrown passionflower or common passion flower, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to South America. It has been introduced elsewhere. It is a vigorous,

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

or semi-

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

tendril In botany, a tendril is a specialized Plant stem, stem, leaf or Petiole (botany), petiole with a thread-like shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as ''Cuscuta''. There ar ...

bearing

vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

growing to 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, growing to , is edible, but is variously described as having a bland, undesirable, or insipid taste. In South America, the plant is known for its medicinal properties, and is used by both the Toba and the

Maka Maka or MAKA may refer to: * Funhouse (Makana "Maka" Akana), a Marvel Comics supervillain * Maká, a Native American people in Paraguay ** Maká language, spoken by the Maká * Maka (satrapy), a province of the Achaemenid Empire * Maka, Biffech ...

peoples.

Etymology

The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''caerulea'' means "qara and refers to the blue colonial filaments.

Description

Vegetative characteristics

''Passiflora caerulea'' is a woody vine capable of growing to high where supporting

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s are available. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are alternate, palmately five-lobed (sometimes three, seven, or nine lobes), and are up to in length while being linear-oblong shaped. The base of each leaf has a flagellate-twining tendril long, which twines around supporting vegetation to hold the plant up.

Generative characteristics

The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

is complex, about in diameter, 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

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s and three purple stigmas. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

is an oval orange-yellow

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

, long by in diameter, containing numerous

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s. It is edible to humans when ripe, but tends to have an undesirable flavour unless allowed to fully ripen in a warm climate and fall naturally from the vine, when it has a mild blackberry flavour, though with a lower sugar content than commonly eaten species.

Cultivation

''Passiflora caerulea'' is widely cultivated as a wall-climber or as groundcover. Though hardy down to , 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 which

volunteers Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

in California. It has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

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

Cultivars

A number of

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s have been produced from the species: *'Chinensis' (corona filaments paler blue) *'Constance Elliott' was raised by Kucombe and Prince in Exeter,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. 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

. *'Pierre Pomie', a pale pink flower form

Chemical constituents

Compared to ''Passiflora incarnata'', this plant contains higher amounts of the MAO-inhibitor harmine.

Uses

Though the fruit is edible, it is rather insipid when eaten raw. A tea can be made of the flower or leaves; however, tetraphyllin B and epi-tetraphyllin B,

cyanogenic glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

s which liberate

hydrogen cyanide Hydrogen cyanide (formerly known as prussic acid) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula, formula HCN and structural formula . It is a highly toxic and flammable liquid that boiling, boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is ...

when activated by enzymes, have been found in the leaves. It is possible to boil away most of the cyanide.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
, ''Phytochemistry'', 21/9 (1982), 2277-2285. In

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, 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. It is also used by the indigenous Argentinian Toba and

people. ''Passiflora caerulea'' is sometimes used as a rootstock, to which is grafted a scion of the edible ''

Passiflora edulis ''Passiflora edulis'', commonly known as passion fruit, is a vine species of passion flower native to the region of southern Brazil through Paraguay to northern Argentina. It is cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for Passi ...

''. The passion flower is the national flower of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. Its intricate structure has generated

Christian symbolism Christian symbolism is the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork or events, by Christianity. It invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. The symbolism of the early Church was characterized by be ...

, each part representing a different part of the

Passion of Christ The Passion (from latin language, Latin , "to suffer, bear, endure") is the short final period before the death of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, described in the four canonical gospels. It is commemorated in Christianity every year during Holy ...

. The "

Etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

and names" section of ''

'' contains more information about this

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

Gallery

File:Fleur de jardin.JPG, Flower File:Passiflora caerulea (2005 10 08) - vrucht.jpg, Fruit File:South Central Farm 45.jpg, Flower of ''Passiflora caerulea'' File:Passiflora caerulea 'Constance Elliot'.jpg, 'Constance Elliot', a white flowered cultivar File:Passiflora "Pierre Pomié".jpg, 'Pierre Pomie', a pale pink flowered cultivar File:Passiflora-caerulea 2019-06-23 (DSC2447-1).jpg, Peculiarity: two fused filaments force anthers upwards, displaying pollen beds otherwise not visible from this perspective. File:Passiflora caerulea -Passiflore bleue-Fleurs-20210705.jpg, ''Passiflora caerulea'' flower File:Passiflora caerulea seeds.jpg, The seeds of ''P. caerulea'', the red gel-like substance around them removed

References

External links

Topwalks.net: ''Passiflora caerulea''
{{Authority control

caerulea ''Caerulea'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. It is a small genus with only two species. *'' Caerulea coeligena'' (Oberthür, 1876) western China, central China. *'' Caerulea coelestis'' (Alphéraky, 1897) Tibet, western Chi ...

Flora of Argentina Flora of Brazil Flora of Uruguay Garden plants of South America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus