Passion Fruit Questions

[garden_idiot]

I was wondering where in the world Passion Fruit plants might come from. Do you have to plant them? Do they spread? Our pasture in front of the house has been taken over by them. I know we didn't put them out and this is the first year they have shown up.

I actually didn't know what they were and just happened to see where someone on here had posted about them.

[PlantSwap]

Passiflora vines grow like weeds around here. The one I had in my back yard spread by underground runner AFAIK. I'm sure the seeds can be germinated and sown too.

[Sunny_1]

I was wondering where in the world Passion Fruit plants might come from. Do you have to plant them? Do they spread? Our pasture in front of the house has been taken over by them. I know we didn't put them out and this is the first year they have shown up.

I actually didn't know what they were and just happened to see where someone on here had posted about them.

I have this vine growing across my entire front porch. The fruit smells so good. The vine has come up in lots of places either deposited by birds or underground runners that are far from the original vines.

http://www.altnature.com/gallery/passionflower.htm


Passion Flower is a native perennial vine of the Southeastern United States; found from. Virginia and Kentucky, south to Florida and Texas. It can be found growing in sandy thickets and open fields, roadsides, fence rows and waste places.

The name Passionflower refers to the passion of Christ: the 3 stamens represent his wounds, and the 12 petals represent the apostles. Passionflower fruit is sweet and aromatic.

Medicinal tea: To 1 tbsp. dried herb add 1 cup boiling water steep for 10 min. drink at bedtime for restlessness. Quite flavorful and aromatic.

[unicorn2564]

ohhh nice job...now I can add something else with my chamomile tea since I am not so fond of it alone....thanks so much !!!!!

[Thalictra]

Around here (SW North Carolina)wild passionflowers/fruits are called "maypops". Locals told me the fruit is ripe after a frost when the green fruits turn yellow. Three hard freezes later, the fruit was still green. The Ag Ext agent told me that some just do stay green --to go ahead and eat them (not the skin). Inside, it looks like a glop of clear caviar with one small black seed per "egg". Delicious!!! Yes, I can attest to the underground spreading. My chore now is to dig them up and transplant the roots to a sunny slope --away from my other plants. They take over fast! I am curious, Sunny 1, as to which part of the plant you use for tea?

[Sunny_1]

......here you go....
http://www.altnature.com/gallery/passionflower.htm

.....and I have only used an infusion of the tender and young leaves

[Thalictra]

Thanks, Sunny1! Great link. Here's another: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-passion-fruit.htm. Interestingly, when I looked at commercial teas, I found they use only the fruit. Hmmm.
http://shopping.yahoo.com/search;_yl...2k109414-11492

I heard or saw somewhere that the rind is poisonous.

[Sunny_1]

Thanks, Sunny1! Great link. Here's another: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-passion-fruit.htm. Interestingly, when I looked at commercial teas, I found they use only the fruit. Hmmm.
http://shopping.yahoo.com/search;_yl...2k109414-11492

I heard or saw somewhere that the rind is poisonous.

________________________________
I don't think the rind is poison but they tell you not to eat it. I must dry a fruit next year and try tea made from it
If it helps and cures all it claims it is certainly a miracle fruit!!

[Sunny_1]

BTW, is this where you get your screen name..............

A history of the collecting and naming of Thalictrum confine Fern, is detailed in an attempt to clear up long-standing nomenclatural and taxonomic confusions.Thalictrum confine has traditionally been distinguished fromT. venulosum Trel. on the basis of its larger, falcate fruits; however the lectotype ofT. confine consists only of a packet of terete, subcylindric fruits, even smaller than those of the type specimen ofT. venulosum. Fernald's original description ofT. confine also does not match large-fruited plants which he later referred to that species. Those plants first cited by him asT. occidentale A. Gray, and later distributed as Gray Herbarium exisccatae under the nameT. confine, match specimens, presently found at the type location ofT. confine. Although fruit-growth was apparently arrested by forst-damage in the lectotype, it is perceived to represent the larger-fruited plants as well.Thalictrum confine is placed in synonymy under polymorphicT. venulosum. Acceptance of infraspecific taxa in the group is discouraged, but, for those who wish to segregate larger-fruited trans-Canadian plants, the correct varietal name isT. venulosum var.confine (Fern) B. Boivin, withT. turneri B. Boivin in synonymy.
Contribution number 552 of the New York State Science Service.