Edible passionflower any idea?

17 years ago

Yesterday I bought a new passiflower with no name. They had 2 varieties. This one produces a large red edible fruit and the other produced a large edible yellow fruit. No blooms on either plant, dark green typical passiflora foliage.

Any clues? Thanks tons, I know there isn't much information to go on. I bought these at a local nursery that got in a big shipment of exotic fruits. They had dragonfruit (got a voodoo child), lychees, sugarapples, mangoes, barbados cherry, etc. and these.

Tally HO!

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Comments (9)

karyn1
17 years ago
Maybe edulis?
beachplant
Original Author
17 years ago
No, not edulis. The foliage on this one is a very dark green. Huge leaves. Hopefully it will bloom soon and I can ID it that way. I need to look at the stems better too.
Tally HO!
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mark4321_gw
17 years ago
Could you provide a picture? Or at least more detail? Exactly how big are the leaves? How many lobes? Their shape? Size and shape of the stipules? (the bract-like structures where the petioles meet the stem) How many and the position of the petiole glands (the real pros may be able to figure something out here). Even something simple as a comparison of the leaf color with something with which we are all familiar would help. Terms like huge and dark are all relative.

How big was the fruit? Spherical, egg-shaped, elongated?

If you have any guesses you can check "Passiflora: Passionflowers of the world", Ulmer, et.al. Between Google Books and Amazon You can access most of the species entries using their searches. You'll find pictures of the leaves and stipules, as well as other descriptors which might help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Passiflora: Passionflowers of the World
beachplant
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for the link. I know that wasn't much to go on. No fruit or flowers yet. It's already attached itself to the fence and is headed up a tree. One of these years I might learn to post pics, but probably not!
When I get home tonight I'll post any other info I can on it. The leaves are about as big as my hand, I wear a size 6 glove, leaves are a much deeper green than any other passi I've ever grown.
Tally HO!
beachplant
Original Author
17 years ago
I ruled out a lot of the edible ones with the link and searches. AND I found a couple of sources, one local!!, to buy more.
Thanks again.
Tally HO!
cyrus_gardner
17 years ago
I think I know Passiflora incarnata.
It grows wild in this area. Last year I was fascinated with it and did not even know its name. So I searched the internat and found out that its ripe fruit, leaves , young shoots are edible. I did ate a lot of it last year.

The one that I am talking about (which i think is incarnata)has blue-purple flowers. Leaves are 3-lobed,but not very large. Its fruit is the size of a walnut and become light green-yellow when ripe. The fruit has a unique flavor that is hard to describe but generally it is tart and has hard dark color seeds.. The flower has amazing fragrance and it is also edible. I put them in 100 proof vodka and make my own cologn water. You can also drink it if no other thing is added.

I have dug up some roots past winter and have planted them place that I wanted. Some of them are just coming up.
Forgot to say that here(zone 7/8) incarnata's top dies in the winter but the root becomes dormant and regrows just about now. The age and size of the root determines the size and vigor of the vine.

It is a fantastic climber and does best in full sun or partial about 6-7 hours.
beachplant
Original Author
17 years ago
NO, I've grown incarnata for years. It's invasive here and I used to chop it out of the pecan tree with a machete. Ike took out most of the tree and drowned the vine. The leaves on this one are at least twice as big and much darker.
We went back to the nursery yesterday & the owner told me it is Panama. So I'm off to look up info on it. Probably at the link provided above as it has tons of great info. The one at the nursery had buds but no open blooms so still no pics. Mine has headed up the mulberry tree and down the fence, it's not potted yet.
Tally HO!
wilmington_islander
17 years ago
It is definitely an edulis..."Panama red" is one of your plants, and the other is a p. edulis falvicarpa....my edulis has leaves WAY, WAY bigger than my hands, and I am 6 ft. 180pounds and can palm a basketball.....I do not like the yellow fruited edulis very much, But would slap my grandma for the purple fruited ones...the reds are closer in taste to the purple than the yellow.
poisonfree
13 years ago
I have one vine covering half my backyard supported on trellis work. Backyard chickens love the fruit and so do we. We juice it and or scoop it out with a spoon. Flowering now and will add the flowers to salads and make tea. This vine is easily controlled if one is vigilant. Does anyone make wine with the fruit?

Here is a link that might be useful: Crazy Coop