John Clayton Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society’s
Wildflower Spot – August 2008
PASSIONFLOWER VINE
Passiflora incarnata
Two species of this tropical-looking
flower are native to Virginia, growing in most counties in
the coastal and piedmont regions. The large lavender
flowers are arranged in intricate layers, fringed in the
center. Leaves are toothed along the edges and 3-lobed.
Emerging late in the spring, passionflower vine grows
and blooms rampantly all summer, then often disappears in
October and November under the voracious grazing of the
caterpillars of the fritillary butterflies.
Tendrils permit climbing up a tree or
on a fence, but it is often found sprawling along the ground
where it blooms just as passionately. In a controlled
garden or flower bed, passionflower vine should be planted
in a large container, sunk into the ground.
Passionflower vine grows in fields,
pine woods and fencerows in southeastern U.S. and Bermuda
and west to Oklahoma and Texas. Any soil will do,
rich is preferred. Full sun produces more flowers, drainage
can be moist to dry. The plant has deep roots and will
colonize to form groundcover.
Passiflora lutea, also native to
Virginia, is not quite as showy, with smaller yellow flowers
and a small black berry as fruit. Native passionflower vine
is often sold in local nurseries, but be careful, the leaves
of non-native passionflower vines have more than 3 lobes.
The passionflowers were discovered by a
Roman Catholic friar in Mexico in the early 1600’s.
Symbolism to the Christian passion abounds. The combined
sepals and petals could represent 10 apostles (omitting
Peter who denied, and Judas who betrayed), the five anthers
= the five wounds, the column of the ovary = the cross, the
stamens = the hammers, the three stigmas = the three nails.
However, American Indians already used
the plant in folk medicine and as an aphrodisiac, attaching
a different meaning to the plant’s name. Chemists have
found drugs in passionflower used to combat insomnia and
anxiety. A writer in southern Appalachia advises: “After
you have lived with someone for many years the little things
they do start to bother you. So you take some passionflower
leaves and make you a tea. Pretty soon you start to relax
and the little things don’t bother you so much and you get
along fine.”
The fruit is greenish-yellow, edible
and makes a very good jelly. In 1612 Captain Smith reported
that in Virginia the Indians planted a wild fruit like a
lemon, which begins to ripen in September. Passionflower is
also known as “maypop”, referring to the sound the fruit
makes when stepped upon. It is the official state
wildflower of Tennessee.
The flowers are visited by butterflies
such as the variegated fritillary and zebra longwing, who
lay eggs on the stems and leaves permitting the entire
lifecycle of these beautiful butterflies. Hummingbirds and
bees also visit the flowers, but beware, deer and rabbits
may eat the fruit.
Written by Helen Hamilton, president of the John Clayton
Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society
