I forgot to mention that I thought this was a Maypop, passiflora incarnata, but the petiole glands are not on the base of the leaves which is typical of the incarnata. The petiole glands are actually halfway up the stem leading to the leaves. If you look carefully at the picture above, you can see what I'm talking about. Well, just let me know what you guys think, kindly awaiting your comments :)

Hello,

This is one of the many hybrids of P. incarnata and P. cincinnata. The most recognized, (and sold), name is P. 'Incense', but there are so many available now, that I would not be surprised if you had P. 'Temptation', P. 'Inspiration', or any of the others. Great plant no matter which one it is.

Eric

I agree with Eric. Whichever hybrid it's a beautiful plant and I'm so glad to hear that you are excited about the Gulf Fritillary cats. So many people just want to know how to get rid of them.

Thanks Eric and Karyn! I learned something today about this plant. Yesterday I started 2 small cuttings from this plant, hoping to propagate more vines for the caterpillars to feed. This is my first attempt at rooting anything from a cutting, but I have learned alot just by searching this forum. Here's a pic of what I did, the media is a mix of perlite and jiffy seed starting mix.

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And yes, I do love the gulf frit caterpillars. I actually raise some indoors because we have so many wasps and birds around here. Right now I have about 10 gulf frit chrysalis awaiting to emerge a butterfly. I also raise Monarchs indoors with milkweed leaves, but I only have 4 of those right now. From my experience, the monarchs cats eat ALOT more than the gulf frit caterpillars so keeping a stock of milkweed leaves can be a chore.

I third Eric and Karyn's opinions on the ID of some hybrid of incarnata and cincinnata. Beautiful plant. Enjoy the cats. I have mixed feelings about them since they are so beautiful but they destroy my plants from time to time.
shawn

I originally began growing passifloras to attract GF's. I didn't get any but did fall in love with the vines and started collecting them. I did finally get some Variegated Fritillary cats but might be a bit too far north for the GF's. Some passiflora varieties are actually toxic to cats, true red varieties, I believe. Lady Margaret is the only red I know offhand that's safe.

Your cuttings look good so far. I have a homemade aeroponics chamber that works great for rooting passiflora (and other) cuttings. They are easy and inexpensive to make.

I used to raise cats inside, mainly monarchs and swallowtails, but with the kids, pets, plants and everything else it just became too much to deal with. Now they are at the mercy of their natural predators. I hate seeing a wasp carry off a caterpillar but I grow enough host plants that enough survive. I tried a couple varieties of silk moths (Atlas & Samia ricini) last fall but had poor results and they were just sooooo messy. I might try a few Lunas over the summer but that's it.

Here is a link that might be useful: cloning box