Passiflora membranacea

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The fruit is sweet and well-flavoured and can be eaten raw or cooked. It measures 40–90mm long and 30–40mm wide.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in high forest zones between 1,350-3,000 m above sea level. It needs a temperature above 16°C at flowering. It is best in a humus rich moist but well-drained soil.

Central America, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, North America, Panama,

How to Identify

An evergreen climbing shrub. The stems are about 5 m long. It scrambles over other plants and has coiling tendrils. The fruit are 4-9 cm long by 3-4 cm wide.

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. Plants are tolerant of temperatures that occasionally go down to about -5°c for short periods and so can possibly be grown outdoors in the mildest areas of the country. The top growth will be killed by the cold, but so long as the root is well mulched and is in a very well-drained soil, it should grow back in the spring. Roots of outdoor grown plants should be restricted to encourage fruiting. Plants produce tendrils and climb by attaching these to other plants. 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. 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 seed for 12 hours in warm water, then sow in late winter or early spring in a warm greenhouse. Seed sown in January and grown on quickly can flower and fruit within its first year. Germination takes 1–12 months at 20°C. Prick seedlings out into individual pots once large enough to handle. Plants intended for outdoor growing are best overwintered in the greenhouse during their first year, then planted out in late spring or early summer after the last expected frosts. Mulch roots well in late autumn for cold protection. Take cuttings of young shoots (15cm with a heel) in spring, or use leaf bud cuttings in spring. Cuttings of fully mature wood taken in early summer take about 3 months and have a high success rate.

Medicinal Uses

None known.

Other Uses

None known.

Passiflora membranacea is a species of Passiflora from Costa Rica, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

Notes

There are about 400 Passiflora species.

More from Passifloraceae

Adenia cardiophylla

Adenia cissampeloides

Adenia digitata

Wild granadilla, Finger-leaved adenia

Adenia ellenbeckii

Adenia glauca

Adenia gummifera

Snake climber, Green stem