Passiflora alata,
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
alata means "winged", referring to the 4-winged stems.
Description
The
leaves 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. These flowers are unique (with one other species
Passiflora xiikzodz) in having eight concentric coronas divided into five types; radii, pali. the operculum, the limen, and the trochlea, the most of any known plant.,
[Engler an Prantl, Naturichen Pflanzenfamilien, Band 21, page 503 (figure 232b)] P. alata attracts
bees,
butterflies and
birds.
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
temperateness 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.
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.
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