Scientific name: Passiflora foetida
Family: Passifloraceae
It is a species of passion flower out of 550 species of Passiflora that is native to the southwestern United States (southern Texas and Arizona), Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, Africa ,and much of South America.
🌲Plant characters
🌿It is a creeping vine like other members of the genus, and yields an edible fruit.
🌿The specific epithet, foetida, means "stinking" in Latin and refers to the strong aroma emitted by damaged foliage.
🌿The stems are thin, wiry and woody, covered with sticky yellow hairs.
🌿The leaves are three- to five-lobed and viscid-hairy.
🌿They give off an unpleasant odour when crushed.
🌸The flowers are white to pale cream coloured, about 5-6 cm diameter.
🍈The fruit is globose, 2-3 cm diameter, yellowish-orange to red when ripe, and has numerous black seeds embedded in the pulp; the fruit are eaten and the seeds dispersed by birds.
🌦️Climatic requirements:
Plants require a temperature not lower than around 16°c when they are flowering in order to ensure fruit set.
Soil:
Requires a humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil and a position in dappled shade.
Prefers a circumneutral soil, disliking very acid or very alkaline conditions.
Passiflora species tend to flower and fruit more freely when grown in soils of only moderate fertility.
plant can flower and produce fruit all year round.
♀️Propagation
📌Seed
Best sown as soon as it is ripe along with the pulp which will help break down the seed coat and speed up germination. Stored seed should be soaked for 24 hours in warm water and germination time can be reduced if the seed is then mixed with the juice of a fresh passion fruit (of any species) Even so, it can take 12 months for stored seed to germinate. Place the seed tray in a shady position, maintaining a temperature around19 - 24oC.
📌Cuttings:
Cuttings of young shoots, taken at the nodes. The cuttings root best in a neutral to slightly acid compost, but 100% sharp sand also produces good results.
Cuttings of fully mature wood taken at a node. They can take 3 months, but there is usually a high percentage
📌Air layering can be done easily.
✂️Pruning
Plants are very tolerant of pruning and can be cut back to ground level if required to rejuvenate the plant
🛠️Uses:
🍀Medicinal uses: This species can be helpful in treating digestive problems, including dyspepsia and diarrhea; or used as an astringent and expectorant for nervous conditions and spasms.
🍀Edible Uses
Fully ripe fruit - raw. Sweet and juicy
🚫Do not eat the under-ripe fruit since it can be toxic.
🌱Leaves - cooked. Used as an ingredient in soups
🌳Agroforestry Uses:
The plant is used as a ground cover and as a hedge
🐞Other Uses:
Substances in the leaves deter feeding insects
😮An interesting fact about plant:
The bracts of this plant serve as insect traps, but it is as yet unknown whether the plant digests and gains nourishment from the trapped insects or if it merely uses the bracts as a defensive mechanism to protect its flowers and fruit. This is still an issue of debate and research among carnivorous plant enthusiasts.
🔻Warning
The unripe fruits contain cyanide and are poisonous.
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