North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Passiflora incarnata

Passiflora incarnata L.

purple passionflower, maypops

Passiflora incarnata (Purple Passionflower)

Image ID: 9348
Image by: Ware, Richard & Teresa
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: PAIN6
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Passiflora incarnata
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2017-12-21

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: PASSI
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Passiflora
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Passionflower
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 525 species, vines, shrubs, and trees, largely of tropical America, with a few species in warm temperate America and Asia.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION: Identification notes: Passiflora flowers are structurally striking. There are 5 sepals and either 0 or 5 petals; a corona of numerous linear structures is present, arranged in 1-several series. The ovary, 3 styles, and 5 stamens are basally adnate and elevated on an androgynophore. Most species have glands on the leaves which function as extrafloral nectaries; these can be seen as paired glands on the leaf petiole (in all our species except P lutea), and some species also have laminar glands on the leaf blade, near the margin.
GENUS REFERENCES: Ulmer & MacDougal (2004)=Z; Vanderplank (2000)=Y; Vanderplank (2013=X; Acevedo-Rodr�guez & Strong (2012)=WI; Feuillet & MacDougal in Kubitzki, Bayer, & Stevens (2007).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: PASSIF
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Passifloraceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu ex Kunth 1817
FAMILY COMMON: Passionflower Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 27 genera and 935 species, vines, shrubs, trees, and herbs, of tropical and warm temperate regions, especially America and Africa. Here circumscribed to exclude Turneraceae, counter the recommendation of Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009); see comments under Turneraceae.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Feuillet & MacDougal in Kubitzki, Bayer, & Stevens (2007); Arbo in Kubitzki, Bayer, & Stevens (2007).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: An herbaceous perennial vine of roadsides, fencerows, thickets and fields.
STEMS: Erect, trailing or climbing by tightly coiled tendrils; smooth or with short, soft hairs.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, petiolate, palmately 3-lobed (rarely 5-lobed), 2 1/2 to 8 in. long, toothed, thick and leathery, and smooth or with short, soft hairs beneath.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers solitary (rarely 2) on short stalks from leaf axils, about 2 1/2 in. wide, showy and with a complex structure: 5 oblong sepals with hornlike extensions, green outside, white inside; 5 petals resembling the sepals except white or purplish and lacking horns; a crown of purple and white thread-like segments that mostly obscures petals and sepals; and a central stalk supporting 5 stamens and a fleshy, green, 3-parted style.
FRUITS: Fruit a yellowish-green, oval berry.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: to 12 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb, Vine

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY:
LEAF RETENTION: Deciduous

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: May-Jul (-later).

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
			x	x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: White, blue, purple

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
x						x		x

FRUITING PERIOD: Jul-Oct.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Disturbed
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Purple Passion-flower produces detailed flowers of lavender and white that later ripen into pale green egg-like fruits. A common name used for this species is “May-pop,” referring to its (edible) fruits. The lovely blooms make this vine attractive to people and the foliage and nectar make it attractive to butterflies and their larvae (Frittilaries). It can be a vigorous spreader. The Cherokees used this plant both for food and various medicinal purposes.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 6
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 10
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
2212	1986-2029			View
4328	1992-0484			View
5732	1995-0858			View
6225	1995-1357			View
9113	2005-0580	2007-02-28	1290	View
9460	2021-0119	2021-11-01		View

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
1290	HORT	2005-01-01		View
1356	HORT	2006-10-21	Bryan	View
1736	HORT	2005-01-01	Bryan	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
3838	2212	59	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
3839	2212	89	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
3840	2212	8	NCBG staff	1996-03-28	View
3841	2212	81	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
3842	2212	86	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
6656	4328	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
8246	5732	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View
8880	6225	2	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
11717	9113	146	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
12888	9460	86	Briggs	2021-10-22	View
13042	0	21	Liloia	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: PAIN6
USDA Common Name: Purple Passionflower
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NJ, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Vine, Forb/herb

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Passiflora incarnata
COMMON NAME: Maypops, Purple Passionflower
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, G, K2, RAB, S, Va, W, WH3, WV, Z]
PHENOLOGY: May-Jul (-later); Jul-Oct.
HABITAT: Roadsides, fencerows, thickets, fields.
COMMENTS: S. NJ, DE, MD, sw. PA, OH, and OK, south to s. FL and s. TX. Certainly one of our most interesting and beautiful flowers.
RANGE MAP: Passiflora incarnata.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Passifloraceae A.L. de Jussieu ex Kunth 1817 (Passionflower Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 27 genera and 935 species, vines, shrubs, trees, and herbs, of tropical and warm temperate regions, especially America and Africa. Here circumscribed to exclude Turneraceae, counter the recommendation of Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009); see comments under Turneraceae.
REFERENCE: Feuillet & MacDougal in Kubitzki, Bayer, & Stevens (2007); Arbo in Kubitzki, Bayer, & Stevens (2007).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Passiflora L. (Passionflower)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 525 species, vines, shrubs, and trees, largely of tropical America, with a few species in warm temperate America and Asia.
REFERENCE: Ulmer & MacDougal (2004)=Z; Vanderplank (2000)=Y; Vanderplank (2013=X; Acevedo-Rodr�guez & Strong (2012)=WI; Feuillet & MacDougal in Kubitzki, Bayer, & Stevens (2007).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Passiflora incarnata in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Passiflora incarnata in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Passiflora incarnata in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Passiflora incarnata in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Passiflora incarnata in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Passiflora incarnata

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 9348 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 9351 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 29873 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)