Dig into Plants: Passionflower

Passionflower Vine

Other Common Names: Purple Passionflower, Purple Passion Vine, Maypop, Apricot Vine

Scientific Name: Passiflora incarnata

Native to Alabama: Yes

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – Wynn Anderson

Learn More About...

Basic Plant Information

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – Wynn Anderson

I am a climbing or trailing woody stemmed vascular plant, so I am a vine.
I do not keep leaves year-round, so I am deciduous.
I die back in winter but regrow in spring for many seasons, so I am perennial.
I can grow up to 25 feet high and 3 – 6 feet wide.

Ecological Benefits

This plant provides food for:

Butterflies

Caterpillars
Gulf Fritillary,
Variegated Fritillary,
Zebra Longwing,
Banded Hairstreak,
Red-banded Hairstreak

Other Pollinators

Other Birds

Other Ecological Benefits:

Young tendrils are eaten by wild turkey; ants feed on the nectar and help defend the plant from herbivores

Other Plants Found in Alabama with Similar Ecological Benefits:

Yellow Passionflower

(Passiflora lutea)

Maintenance Notes

Dormant in winter.
Flowers can be cut for an indoor vase.
Vines may be trained onto a trellis, fence, or tree trunk; to encourage bushiness, pinch the plants back during their first growing season.
When watering, hold hose to base of plant for a count of 5 seconds. Water should reach all roots.
Avoid sprinkling water on the leaves.
Requires average amount of water.

Average watering: water two times per week during the summer and once per week during the rest of the year.

Habitat Requirements

This plant prefers:

Full Sun
(6+ hours of sun per day)

Part Sun/ Shade
(2-6 hours of sun per day)

Average Watering

Well-drained, Sandy, Loamy, Clay,
or Moist Soil

Leaf, Flower & Seed Identification

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database – Doug Goldman

LEAF DESCRIPTION

Leaves are dark green above, whitish below, 3-lobed; climbs with axillary (between stem and leaf) tendrils (modified leaf structure used for support) or sprawls along the ground; base of each leaf has 2 extra-floral nectaries (glands that secrete a sugary fluid) to attract ants.

Leaf Characteristics Chart (PDF)


Shape: Palmate	Margin: Lobate

Arrangement: Alternate	Form: Simple

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – Marcus A Joseph

FLOWER DESCRIPTION

Flowers are short-stalked and 2.5-3 inches in diameter; wavy or crimped hair-like crown sit atop 5 petals and 5 sepals, showy and erect pistil and stamen.

Flower Shape Chart (JPG)


Color: Pink, purple, blue	Shape: Saucer-shaped & tubulate	Bloom Months: April – Sep

Wikimedia – Density

SEED DESCRIPTION

Plant spreads by:
Seeds and Rhizomes/ Tubers/ Roots & Shoots
Often spreads rapidly by root suckers – grows from unintended buds on its roots.


Type: Fruit – Berry	Description: Large, leathery, orange-yellow berry; mature berry is brown; about the size of a large oval hen’s egg; fruit contains many flattened, dark seeds, each covered with edible pulp	Months in Seed: July – October

Plant Life Cycle

Plant Life Cycle:

All plants start life as a seed.
The seed turns into a sprout when it grows roots.
The sprout becomes a seedling as grows a stem and leaves above the ground.
After the seedling becomes an adult plant it will grow flowers.

General Plant Life Cycle – Dreamstime

Plant Life Cycle continues:

After the flowers finish blooming, each flower turns into a seed.
When the seeds fall down to the ground, the plant life cycle starts again.
Each seed can become a plant if it has the food, water and space that it needs to grow.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – Peggy Romfh

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

Quick Fact Sheet
(Condensed Species Info)

Plant ID Sign (Text Only):
Ready as-is PDF

Plant ID Sign (With Picture):
Ready as-is PDF

QR Code
(Links to this Webpage)

Plant ID Sign (Text Only):
Editable Word Doc

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