Passion flower and fruit

[penolta]

Thanks, all. We keep the vines for the fritillary caterpillars to eat. I am not passionate about trying the fruit myself. The flower reminds me of a roulette wheel, so eating one of the fruits might prove a bit of a gamble. :roll:

[mtngal]

LOL! I'm not too sure about the fruit - I'm not crazy about passion fruit iced tea, so I suspect I wouldn't like the fruit. But don't go by my tastes because I'm not all that crazy about mangoes either.

[Rodney9]

Beautiful flower and good shots.

[Goldwinger]

penolta wrote:

The flower reminds me of a roulette wheel, so eating one of the fruits might prove a bit of a gamble. :roll:

good one Pen!

[Goldwinger]

mtngal wrote:

But don't go by my tastes because I'm not all that crazy about mangoes either.

oh, I love mangos! had a couple trees in the back yard where I use to live, those and the two humongous avocado trees that I wish I could have taken with me
GW

[penolta]

Thanks, Rodney and Goldwinger for looking and commenting. For those unfamiliar with passionflowers, here is a link to a couple more of the many horticultural varieties:

http://forums.steves-digicams.com/fo...729&forum_id=7

[bilybianca]

penolta wrote:

Had a crop of passion flower fruits this year (haven't tried to eat any yet)

1

Lovely shots, Penolta!

Passifloras are among my favourites, I'm planning to extend the house with a "tropicarium" to be able to keep more plants and there will for sure be lots of Passifloras.

Are the fruits of this one really edible? (Obviously to some they are, according to the shot in post #3)

Kjell

[penolta]

Thanks, Kjell. Be careful what you wish for. I don't think you would want this one in your tropical greenhouse - it is an extremely vigorous vine that will take over like some science fiction invader from outer space! We don't know anything about this one - it was growing "wild" in a neighborhood park (probably escaped from the neighboring nursery) where they now have had an ongoing eradication program to get rid of it with little success. We brought home a sample and have been fighting to keep it under control ever since - we keep it because the fritillary butterflies do so well on it. The other two varieties we have (link above) are more floriferous and more controlled, and were bought from nurseries.

[bilybianca]

penolta wrote:

We don't know anything about this one - it was growing "wild" in a neighborhood park (probably escaped from the neighboring nursery) where they now have had an ongoing eradication program to get rid of it with little success.

As far as I can see this is a Passiflora caerulea, the most common species (I actually think it is a true species from Brazil/Paraguay) in Swedish flower shops. Here it is kept as a pot plant, but they seldom survive the winter season (indoors, the air gets too dry due to heating). Only the fanatics with special plant rooms keep other species and cultivars. I will become one of those fanatics when I get the money and time to extend the house.:-)

Kjell

http://www.gardenvines.com/catalog/p...lea-p-120.html

[penolta]

bilybianca wrote:

As far as I can see this is a Passiflora caerulea, the most common species

Kjell

That is what it looks like, but there are so many cultivars and hybrids that without documentation one cannot be sure. At the very least it is probably derived from that.

Here is a web page with much information about this flower and its fruit, for those interested in their edibility:

http://www.paghat.com/passiflora.html