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Common Name: Passion Flower; Maypops; Wild Apricot
Scientific Name: Passiflora incarnata
Family: Passifloraceae
Serendipity Ranch
Columbus, North Carolina
July 13, 2002
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The intricate flowers of this herbaceaus, trailing vine are 2 - 3 inches in diameter. The small, melon-shaped, edible fruits are 1 - 2 inches long, and "pop" if mashed. These native perennials of the southeastern U.S. are found in every county of North Carolina growing in fields and along roadsides and fencerows. May - July [Justice, William S. and Bell, C. Ritchie, Wild Flowers of North Carolina. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1968]
Also known as Wild Apricot and Maypop, this is a vine up to 10 feet in length. The unusual, fringed flowers are seen from June to September. Edible fruits mature from July into October. Its habitat is disturbed areas such as Cades Cove and Cherokee Orchard. This was Tennessee's State Flower until 1933 when the cultivated Iris replaced it. According to legend, the parts of the flower resemble the instruments of Christ's crucifixion -- the corona representing the crown of thorns; the stamens and pistil, the nails of the cross; the petals and sepals, the faithful apostles. This and Passiflora lutea are the park's only members of a large family of tropical plants. [Campbell, Carlos C., Hutson, William F., Sharp, Aaron J., Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers, Fourth Edition. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 1977]
A trailing or climbing vine. Leaves are divided into 3 large pointed lobes with small teeth. The yellowish fruits, called maypops, are edible. The various parts of the unusual floral structure have been described as symbolic of the Crucifixion. Passiflora lutea is similar but with rounded leaf lobes and yellow and smaller flowers. June - September [Gupton, Oscar W. and Swope, Fred C. Wildflowers of the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains. The University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, 1979]
Along roadsides, in open rocky places, and in old fields where dry conditions prevail passion-flower is a fairly common tendril-bearing vine that may climb to a height of 10 or 20 feet. Its large, showy, pale-lavender flowers are displayed from May or June until mid-summer. These are 1 1/2 - 2 inches wide, rather fantastic in the arrangement of the floral parts, and quite fragrant. The alternate, deeply 3-lobed leaves, have finely toothed margins. The fruit is a many-seeded berry the size and shape of a lemon. When ripe it is yellow and edible. This fruit accounts for the alternate names "wild apricot" and "maypop". [Stupka, Arthur, Wildflowers in Color. HarperPerennial, A Division of HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1965]
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Alphabetical Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Family Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Genus Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z