That is just awesome, I love it! In the bottom photo, what is the green frizzy stuff around the bud? That's pretty cool, I wonder what its for- like its history (evolutional) purpose is? It does make it very delicate looking behind the flower when its open.

Those are the distinctive feathery bracts unique to foetida. They secrete a sticky sap that small insects may become trapped in. It's speculated that this is the early stage of evolution into a carnivorous plant, but the verdict's still out. Nobody's done extensive research into the species yet.

That's a pretty bloom. I have a Passiflora palmeri var. sublanceolata that's a foetida cross. It also has those beautiful feathery bracts.
Karyn

Cool info jblaschke! Somehow I knew you would know the answer to those questions :D

Mine bloom early in the morning and by noon they srink up like a popcorn is this normal do the blooms last only a few hours for you.Mine look like the same flower but dont stay opened long.

Angie the one I have opens in the morning and evening. It closes back up during the heat of the day. It does this for about 2 days. I was so disappointed the first time I saw the flower close thinking that the bloom would only last a few hours.
Karyn

Here is a morning pic.
[IMG]http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q205/aenila/100_2056.jpg[/IMG]

This is at 1pm

The blooms look so perfect in the first photo, they almost look fake. Mine close up like that also but they reopen at dusk and remain open through the next morning.
Karyn

Many foetida open in the early morning and close around noon. Mine, alas, is one of them. And my attempts to pollinate with incarnata have thus far proven unsuccessful. I guess I need to look into the hybrid lists to see which crosses have been successful in the past.

I was actually surprised by the smallish size of the flowers. Mine are only around 2" across, and with a very delicate appearance. I guess I've gotten spoiled by the big 4" blossoms on my Incense and incarnata. :-)

Once my other gossypiifolia starts blooming (it's growing well, but no buds are set yet) I should at least be able to get a bunch of seed from them.

Sweet flowers, Angie83. Very nice indeed.

Mine bloom alot and are small to I just wish they bloomed long in the day kinda disappointed in them but it is hot maybe when cooler it will bloom longer.yours are more purple love it .

jblaschke I'm still waiting for my foetida to do something, it's still green and growing so.....

Hey Karyn,
not too get too hung up on details, but passiflora sublanceolata (formerly passiflora palmeri var. sublanceolata) is not a foetida hybrid. (passiflora palmeri is actually a different species with white flowers from Baja California, p. sublanceolata is from Central America and has the pink-magenta flowers). However, passifloras from the foetida group are easily recognizable by the distinctive bracts on the flowers and will likely hybridize. It sounds like you have a nice strain, however. I had one last year (that I lost in the winter) that would open in the morning and close by early afternoon, but unlike yours it didn't reopen. I also have passiflora arida, another foetida relative, that is only open in the morning.
Ethan

Ethan I'm just going by what I've read online about it's origin. Honestly I could care less about it's parentage. I just buy plants with flowers or foliage that I find attractive. I am surprised that it's not related though because it looks very similar and has the same lacy bracts. This is what I got online about it.
***Passiflora palmeri var. sublanceolata is a brilliantly colored bird-pollinated plant that arose from a bee-pollinated ancestor in the Passiflora foetida group***
Karyn