Passiflora edulis

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Photographs by: Dr. Maulik Gadani

  • Botanical Name : Passiflora edulis Sims
  • Synonyms : Passiflora incarnata L.
  • Common Name : Purple Passion Flower, Apricot Vine, Krushna Kamal
  • Common Name Details :

    The name 'Passion Flower' was given to symbolize the instrument of Christ's Passion - The Gynandrophore is the scourging post, the corona is the crown of thorn, the stamens are five wounds and the stigmas the three nails of crucifixion.

  • Plant Family : Passifloraceae
  • Plant Form : Climbers
  • Occurrence (Sectors) : 5
  • Occurrence (Special Areas) : Gujarat Forestry Research Foundation

About Passiflora edulis Plant :

  • Habit : A big woody climber with stem-tendrils.
  • Leaves : Deeply 3-lobed, serrate, base rounded, petioles with 2 glands at the base of the lamina.
  • Flowers :
    • Big, solitary, white, deeply tinted with purple, bracts 3 with glands at the margins.
    • Calyx 5-lobed, greenish. Petals, narrow inside with purple colour.
    • Corona in 2 rows of many purple-coloured filamentous segments.
    • Stamens 5 on the androgynophore, anthers versatile.
    • Ovary superior, oblong on an androgynophore, styles 5, stigma capitate, placenta 3, parietal with many ovules.
  • Fruit : Berry.globose, seds many, arillate.
  • Flowering and Fruiting Time : August - September
  • Significance :
    • Cultivated in the gardens.
    • The leaves are used to cure itche, giddiness and headache.