Passiflora foetida hirsuta
Family: Passifloraceae
Plant Description: Herbaceous, annual, ill-scented, hairy vine. Usually sticky with glandular hairs and with tendrils, stems to 2 m or longer. Alternate leaves, palmately 3-lobed, 4-7 cm wide and about as long. Petals 1-5 cm long, purplish to white, radial, partially covered by several rings of threadlike appendages. Fruits 2-2.5 cm long, finally, surrounded by a net-like green covering initially.
Plant Trivia: Spanish common name translates as “crown of Christ.” Maypop name comes from the sound made by stepping on the fruit.
Field Identification:
Occurrence: Common on well watered soils in pastures, woods, and waste places
Bloom Period: April – November
Plant Use: Host plant for Heliconia, Gulf Fritillary, and Mexican Silverspot butterflies.
Key to the species of Passiflora:
- Petals lacking………………………………………………………………………………………………….2
Petals white to blue-lavender……………………………………………………………………..3
2. Glands on petiole sessile, more than 0.5 mm or longer in diameter ….. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..P. tenuiloba
Glands on petiole stalked, less than 0.5 mm in diameter…….P. suberosa
3. Bracts at top of peduncle 4-7 mm long, entire or finely toothed……………………………………………………………………………………………………..P. incarnata
Bracts 2-3 cm long, pinnately divided………………………………………………P. foetida
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