Plant Name
Scientific Name: Passiflora vitifolia
Common Names: Perfumed Passionflower, Grape-leaved Passion Fruit, Vine-Leaf Passion Flower, Crimson Passionflower
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Vine
Hawaii Native Status: Introduced. This naturalized ornamental garden plant is native to Central and South America.
Flower Color: Red
Height: To 20 feet (6 m) long
Description: The unusual flowers are up to 6 inches (15 cm) across and have red outer filaments, white inner filaments, and 10 red tepals (5 petals and 5 petal-like sepals). The flowers are followed by yellow-speckled to white-speckled, bright green, egg-shaped fruit with soft, juicy, whitish pulp. The grape-like leaves have 2 saucer-shaped nectaries at the base of the petioles and are dark green, alternate, fuzzy-haired below, and deeply 3-lobed with 3 lanceolate, toothed to scalloped lobes. The stems are slender and have coiling tendrils.
The similar Red Passionflower (Passiflora manicata) has flowers with a purple center and purple filaments.
Special Characteristics
Butterfly Plant – Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) butterfly caterpillars feed on the leaves.
Edible – The fruit pulp is sweet and edible.
Fragrant – The flowers are fragrant.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Dilleniidae
Order: Violales
Family: Passifloraceae – Passion-flower family
Genus: Passiflora L. – passionflower
Species: Passiflora vitifolia Kunth – perfumed passionflower
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