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Passiflora, known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of , the type genus of the family Passifloraceae.
Passiflora species are widely cultivated for their striking , flavorful , traditional herbal medicine uses, and roles in dietary supplements and ayahuasca analogs, with several ornamental hybrids earning Royal Horticultural Society awards.
Passion flowers produce regular and usually showy with a distinctive corona. There can be as many as eight concentric coronal series, as in the case of P. xiikzodz. and Passiflora alata. The hallmark of the genus is the androgynophore, a central column to which the stamens and pistil are attached, which can be very long in some species such as Passiflora coactilis. The flower is merosity (except for a few Southeast Asian species) and ripens into an indehiscent fruit with numerous seeds.
The fruit ranges from long and across, depending upon the species or cultivar.
Other compounds found in passion flowers are coumarins (e.g. scopoletin and umbelliferone), maltol, (e.g. lutenin) and cyanogenic glycosides (e.g. gynocardin) which render some species, i.e. P. adenopoda, somewhat poisonous. Many and their have been found in Passiflora, including apigenin, benzoflavone, homoorientin, , isoshaftoside, isovitexin (or saponaretin), kaempferol, lucenin, luteolin, , passiflorine (named after the genus), quercetin, rutin, saponarin, shaftoside, vicenin and vitexin. Maypop, blue passion flower ( P. caerulea), and perhaps others contain the flavone chrysin. Also documented to occur at least in some Passiflora in quantity are the hydrocarbon nonacosane and the anthocyanidin pelargonidin-3-diglycoside.Dhawan, et al. (2002)
The genus is rich in including Formic acid, Butyric acid, Linoleic acid, linolenic, Malic acid, Myristic acid, oleic acid and as well as natural phenol compounds, and the amino acid . like ethyl butyrate, ethyl caproate, n-hexyl butyrate and n-hexyl caproate give the fruits their flavor and appetizing smell. , contained mainly in the fruit, are most significantly , and raffinose. Among , Passiflora was found to be rich in catalase, Pectinesterase and phenolase.
The New World species of Passiflora were first divided among 22 subgenera by Killip (1938) in the first monograph of the genus. More recent work has reduced these to 4, which are commonly accepted today (in order from most basal to most recently branching):
Some studies have shown that the segregate Old World genera Hollrungia and Tetrapathaea are nested within Passiflora, and form a fifth subgenus ( Tetrapathaea). Other studies support the current four subgenus classification.
Relationships below the subgenus level are not known with certainty and are an active area of research. The Old World species form two clades – supersection Disemma (part of subgenus Decaloba) and subgenus Tetrapathaea. The former is composed of 21 species divided into sections Disemma (three Australian species), Holrungiella (one New Guinean species) and Octandranthus (seventeen south and east Asian species).
The remaining (New World) species of subgenus Decaloba are divided into seven supersections. Supersection Pterosperma includes four species from Central America and southern Mexico. Supersection Hahniopathanthus includes five species from Central America, Mexico and northernmost South America. Supersection Cicea includes nineteen species, with apetalous flowers. Supersection Bryonioides includes twenty-one species, with a distribution centered on Mexico. Supersection Auriculata includes eight species from South America, one of which is also found in Central America. Supersection Multiflora includes nineteen species. Supersection Decaloba includes 123 species.
Some species of Passiflora have been naturalized beyond their native ranges. For example, the blue passion flower ( P. caerulea) now grows wild in Spain. The purple passionfruit ( P. edulis) and its yellow relative flavicarpa have been introduced in many tropical regions as commercial crops.
The leaves are used for feeding by the of a number of species of Lepidoptera. Famously, they are exclusively targeted by many butterfly species of the tribe Heliconiini. The many defensive adaptations visible on Passiflora include diverse leaf shapes (which help disguise their identity), colored nubs (which mimic butterfly eggs and can deter heliconians from ovipositing on a seemingly crowded leaf), extrafloral nectaries, , variegation, and chemical defenses. These, combined with adaptations on the part of the butterflies, were important in the foundation of coevolution.
Recent studies have shown that passiflora both grow faster and protect themselves better in high-nitrogen soils. In low-nitrogen environments, passiflora focus on growth rather than defense and are more vulnerable to herbivores.
The following lepidoptera larvae are known to feed on Passiflora:
The generally high pollinator and parasite specificity in Passiflora may have led to the tremendous morphological variation in the genus. It is thought to have among the highest leaf diversity among all plant genera, with leaf shapes ranging from unlobed to five-lobed frequently found on the same plant. Coevolution can be a major driver of speciation, and may be responsible for the radiation of certain clades of Passiflora such as Tacsonia.
The of the stinking passion flower are covered by hairs which exude a sticky fluid. Many small insects get stuck to this and get digested to nutrient-rich goo by and . Since the insects usually killed are rarely major pests, this passion flower seems to be a protocarnivorous plant.
Banana passion flower or "banana poka" ( P. tarminiana), originally from Central Brazil, is an invasive species weed, especially on the islands of Hawaii. It is commonly spread by feral eating the fruits. It overgrows and smothers stands of endemic vegetation, mainly on roadsides. Blue passion flower ( P. caerulea) is an invasive species in Spain and considered likely to threaten ecosystems there.
On the other hand, some species are endangered due to unsustainable logging and other forms of habitat destruction. For example, the Chilean passion flower ( P. pinnatistipula) is a rare vine growing in the Tropical Andes southwards from Venezuela between in altitude, and in Coastal Central Chile, where it only occurs in a few tens of square kilometres of fog forest by the sea, near Zapallar. P. pinnatistipula has a round fruit, unusual in Tacsonia group species like banana passion flower and Passiflora mixta, with their elongated tubes and brightly red to rose-colored petals.
Notable and sometimes economically significant of Passiflora are several sac fungi of the genus Septoria (including S. passiflorae), the undescribed proteobacterium called " Pseudomonas tomato" (Pathovar passiflorae), the Potyvirus passionfruit woodiness virus, and the Carlavirus Passiflora latent virus.
During the Victorian era the flower (which in all but a few species lasts only one day) was very popular, and many hybrids were created using the winged-stem passion flower ( P. alata), the blue passion flower ( P. caerulea) and other tropical species.
Many cool-growing Passiflora from the Andes Mountains can be grown successfully for their beautiful flowers and fruit in cooler Mediterranean climates, such as the Monterey Bay and San Francisco in California and along the western coast of the U.S. into Canada. One blue passion flower or hybrid even grew to large size at Malmö Central Station in Sweden.Petersen (1966)
Passion flowers have been a subject of studies investigating extranuclear inheritance; paternal inheritance of chloroplast DNA has been documented in this genus.E.g. Hansen et al. (2006) The plastome of the two-flowered passion flower ( P. biflora) has been DNA sequencing.
Passionflower is classified as generally recognized as safe for use as a food ingredient in the U.S.
The flower has been given names related to this symbolism throughout Europe since the 15th century. In Spain, it is known as espina de Cristo ('thorn of Christ'). Older Germanic namesMarzell (1927) include Christus-Krone ('Christ's crown'), Christus-Strauss ('Christ's bouquet'),"Christ's flower" is a mistranslation of Marzell (1927) Dorn-Krone ('crown of thorns'), Jesus-Lijden ('Jesus' passion'), Marter ('passion')"Martyr" is a mistranslation of Marzell (1927) or Muttergottes-Stern ('Mother of God's star'). Muttergottes-Schuzchen (or -Schurzchen) is a nonsensical misreading of Marzell (1927)
Outside the Roman Catholic heartland, the regularly shaped flowers have reminded people of the face of a clock. In Israel they are known as "clock-flower" (שעונית) and in Greece as "clock plant" (ρολογιά); in Japan too, they are known as . In Hawaii, they are called lilikoʻi;
In India, it is known as Krishnakamala because of its relation to the Epic Mahabharata. The 100 peripheral petals represent the 100 Kauravas, while the 5 yellow petals in between stand for the Pandavas. The sensitive, but firm green bulb on top is Draupadi, or Krishna.
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Categories: Passifloraceae Genera, Butterfly Food Plants, Flora Of Central America, Flora Of Southern America, Garden Plants Of North America, Garden Plants Of Central America, Garden Plants Of South America, Medicinal Plants, Edible Fruits, Tropical Fruit, Vines, Botanical Taxa Named By Carl Linnaeus, Ayahuasca Analogs, Passion Of Jesus
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