Passiflora caerulea
L.
Blue passionflower, Blue crown passionflower
(c) Gustavo Fernando Durán, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
(c) tartdragon, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Pedro Joaquin Soto, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Pedro Joaquin Soto
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit, Flowers, Stem, Leaves
The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked — unripe fruits are cooked, while ripe fruits are eaten raw or made into a refreshing drink. The flavour is not very desirable. The fruit is about 6cm long and 4cm wide, partly hollow, and contains a small amount of pleasant acid-tasting pulp surrounding a large quantity of seeds. The flowers can be made into a syrup.
Where to Find It
It is a subtropical climate plant. It grows naturally on the edges of secondary vegetation in eastern Brazil. They can grow in temperatures down to -9°C. Plants can re-grow from underground roots. It prefers plenty of water, moist soil and warm conditions. It grows to 34°S in Argentina. In Argentina it grows from sea level to 2,000 m above sea level. In XTBG Yunnan. It suits hardiness zones 7-10. In Sichuan.
Africa, America, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil*, Chile, China, Colombia, East Africa, Egypt, Indochina, Korea, Madagascar, Mediterranean, Mexico, North Africa, North America, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, SE Asia, Slovenia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America*, Uruguay, USA, Vietnam,
How to Identify
A climber which can be 10 m long. It climbs by tendrils. The leaves are divided and finger like. They are dark green. Flowers can be white, pink or blue. They are 8-10 cm wide. The fruit is oval and yellowish orange. They are 4-7 cm long. The fruit are edible.
How to Grow
Requires a well-drained soil with plenty of moisture in the growing season, otherwise it is not fussy. Dislikes highly alkaline soils. Hardy to about -15°c, if plants are cut down to the ground by frost they can regenerate from the base. Very fast growing. Roots of outdoor grown plants should be restricted to encourage fruiting. Plants produce tendrils and climb by attaching these to other plants. The plant has a very long flowering period, from early summer to early autumn, though individual flowers only live for about 48 hours. The flowers are open all night and start to close in the morning. The flowers are delicately scented. The cultivar 'Constance Elliot' is more fragrant. If fruit is required, especially when the plant is grown indoors, it is best to hand pollinate using pollen from a flower that has been open for 12 hours to pollinate a newly opened flower before midday. The flowers open in sunny weather and do not open on dull cloudy days. Fruit is only formed after long hot summers in Britain. Plants are very tolerant of pruning and can be cut back to ground level if required to rejuvenate the plant. Any pruning is best carried out in the spring. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus.
Propagation: Pre-soak the seed for 12 hours in warm water and then sow in late winter or early spring in a warm greenhouse. If sown in January and grown on fast it can flower and fruit in its first year. The seed germinates in 1 - 12 months at 20°c. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. If intending to grow plants outdoors, it is best to keep them in the greenhouse for their first winter and plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Mulch the roots well in late autumn to protect them from the cold. Cuttings of young shoots, 15cm with a heel, in spring. Leaf bud cuttings in spring. Cuttings of fully mature wood in early summer - takes 3 months with a high percentage success rate.
Medicinal Uses
None known
Other Uses
This plant can be used as a rootstock for less hardy members of the genus, conferring additional cold tolerance. Care should be taken to prevent root suckers from taking over from the grafted plant.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Passiflora caerulea, the blue passionflower, bluecrown passionflower or common passion flower, is a species of flowering plant native to South America that has been introduced elsewhere. It forms a vigorous, deciduous or semi-evergreen tendril-bearing vine growing to 10 m (33 ft) or more. Its leaves are palmately lobed, and its fragrant flowers are blue-white with a prominent fringe of coronal filaments in bands of blue, white, yellow, and brown. The ovoid orange fruit grows to 6 cm (2 in) across. The fruit is edible, but is sometimes described as having an unpalatable or unpleasant flavour. In South America, the plant is known for its medicinal properties, and is used by both the Toba and the Maka peoples.
Production
It is very fast growing.
Other Information
It is a cultivated food plant. It is sold in local markets.
Notes
There are about 400 Passiflora species.
Names & Synonyms
Guoi tay, Lao fan guo, Luo han biu, Maracuja-azul, Mburucuya, Modra pasijonka, Nhanlong lam, Nuo wang wai, Pasionaria, Pioqola, Wanthaj
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