Passiflora caerulea L.
blue passion flower
Glabrous vine. Shoots angular. Lvs 5-lobed almost to base, membranous; petioles 1-3 cm long, with 1-3 stalked glands usually near middle of petiole; stipules c. 2 cm broad, subreniform, undulate, sometimes dentate; lamina lobes subequal; middle lobe 3.5-6.5-(8.5) × 0.5-3 cm, elliptic-obovate or narrow-elliptic, sometimes almost linear on vegetative shoots, membranous and dull above, entire or crenulate, mucronate. Fls ⚥, solitary. Pedicels 3.5-6.5 cm long. Bracts 2-2.8 cm long, broad-ovate, entire, cordate, imbricate. Hypanthium inconspicuous. Sepals and petals 3-4.5 cm long, oblong, white inside; sepals greenish outside and with short dorsal horn towards apex; corona threads c. 2 cm long, with base purple, middle white, and apex violet. Stamens greenish; anthers c. 10 mm long, = or slightly > filaments. Ovary glabrous. Fr. c. 3-5 cm diam., subglobose, yellow; pulp scanty and inedible. Seed c. 4 mm long, broad-elliptic, strongly alveolate, silvery brownish.
N.; S.: from Mangonui (N. Auckland) to coastal Otago, commonest in the Auckland area, Manawatu, and the Akaroa area (Banks Peninsula).
S. Brazil to Argentina 1958
Forest margins and scrub.
FL Dec-Apr.
Blue passion flower is an escape from cultivation and can be expected to occur in many places because it is often used as a stock for P. edulis as well as being grown purely for ornament.
