The Passion

Passiflora caerulea - Passion Flower

Passion Flower refers to vines in the genus Passiflora —flowering plants known for their showy flowers. The Blue Passion Flower, also known as the Common Passion Flower, is a vine native to southern Brazil and Argentina.

Passion flower has a long history of use among Native Americans , in both North and Central America. It is used to treat insomnia, hysteria , and epilepsy, and is also valued for its painkilling properties. It has been found to contain beta-carbolines in the harmala family, an MAOI which has sedative properties and hallucinogenic properties at higher doses, typically used in conjunction with DMT to facilitate oral consumption. it is the larval food of a number of butterfly species.

The unusual shape of the flowers has led to the plant being associated in Christian symbolism with the passion of Jesus; the three stigmas representing the three nails used to nail Jesus to the cross, the five anthers represent the five wounds, the corona represents the crown of thorns, and the ten 'petals' (actually five petals and five sepals) the ten apostles; the leaves also represent the hands of those who persecuted him, and the tendrils the whips of those who beat him.

Now that's cheery. Here, it tries to shroud my porch and snake its little tendrils around every other plant and object within reach. The fruit is edible and fairly tasty, but mostly they are processed for juice, due to many, very tiny seeds. While the plant is a nuisance in its growth habits, the flowers are always a surprising display of exotica. Locally, the plant is probably fertilized by Carpenter Bees, Wasps and Hummingbirds. The complicated flower structure generally prevents smaller bees from effectively doing the job. There are about 500 species including:

The Foetid Passion Flower or Stinking Passion Flower (Passiflora foetida), also known as the Wild Maracuja, is a creeping vine which has an edible fruit and leaves that have a mildly rank aroma. It is native to northern South America and the West Indies .

The bracts of this plant are known to serve as insect traps and also possess the mechanism to digest the trapped insects. However, it is still uncertain as to whether the trap is solely for defence or if the Foetid Passion Flower is a true carnivorous plant, meaning whether or not it digests and receives any nutritional supplement from the insects it traps.

Note: No mention or reference on this page or site is intended to encourage drug use of any kind.

Comments

[Rosemary]

How did you know I was going to bring that up? lol.

It does seem odd that no one is doing research on these flowers for "medicinal" purposes. Did you say hallucigenics? lol.

OT: Everything is up and working, finally! Thank you very much for all your help. ;)