Passiflora lutea, commonly known as yellow passionflower,
Description
P. lutea is a
perennial plant,
herbaceous, climbing or trailing, unbranched
vine that can reach in length. Curled, springlike
tendrils emerging from leaf axils help the vine to climb on structures or other vegetation. The
leaf are trilobed, long and broad, with a petiole. Leaves have smooth (entire) margins and are alternate on the stem. The upper surface of the leaves is dark green, and may be mottled with splotches of lighter green.
In the north of its range, it is
deciduous.
The showy flowers appear singly or in pairs on slender flower stalks up to long. Each flower is wide with narrow yellowish greenish petals and broader green sepals. The fruit is up to long and green, turning dark purple or black when ripe.
Similar species
P. lutea is very similar to
Passiflora suberosa (corkystem passionflower), differentiated by the leaves, which are more variable and generally have deeper lobes in
P. suberosa, and the stems, which are corky or winged in
P. suberosa.
Also,
P. suberosa has a more limited range, occurring in Texas and Florida and parts of Latin America.
Another similar species is
Menispermum canadense (Canadian moonflower), whose leaves are a different shape, with three to seven lobes instead of just three. Also, the fruit of
M. canadense grows in clusters and each berry has a single crescent shaped seed.
Etymology
The genus name
Passiflora comes from the Italian word "passio", or suffering, based on an association of the flower parts to the
crucifixion of
Jesus Christ. The species name
luteo is from the Latin word for "yellow", due to the color of the flowers.
Distribution and habitat
P. lutea is native in the United States from
Pennsylvania west to
Kansas, and south to
Florida and
Texas. It is the northernmost species of
Passiflora,
occurring slightly further north than
P. incarnata,
and tolerant of winter temperatures down to −15 °C, and even −30 °C for short periods.
P. lutea grows in bright shade to sunny places with moist, rich soil, such as open woodlands and low alluvial ground.
Conservation
Passiflora lutea is considered an endangered species in
Pennsylvania.
Ecology
Yellow passionflower is often good for
, as it is a host for
Dryas iulia, Mexican &
Gulf fritillary butterflies, zebra longwings (
Heliconius charitonius) &
Heliconius erato (
Heliconius erato) butterflies.
It is also the only
pollen source used by an unusual specialist
bee,
Anthemurgus passiflorae, which is the sole member of its genus; this rare bee is unusual in that despite its obligate relationship with the plant (
oligolecty), it rarely
Pollination it.
