Re Plant One
Not P. 'Blue Horizon'. The darker band on the corona filaments is more obvious than on most P. caerulea but as it is a very variable species I would say it is P. caerulea.

Re Plant Two
Mark, you have to learn to take pictures whenever possible, even if just of foliage and not flowers! It does sound like a caerulea hybrid though - which typically, but not always have less than full fruit.
Myles

Here is a link that might be useful: Passiflora 'Ely'

Myles,

Thanks for all the feedback. Since the photo for the first plant doesn't match the label, it will be interesting to see what I get. I've had problems before with them getting a little sloppy--in one case showing a "photo" of a fruit that doesn't exactly exist in nature--a long and very strange story. That particular plant has turned out to be one of my favorites. Similarly, I would be happy with either P. 'Blue Horizon' or P. caerulea, neither of which I have. I should find out soon, and then I'll try to get a photo.

Regarding the second plant, it's across town, and even if I did have a camera at the time (I have enough problems with a cell phone!) I wouldn't have thought of taking a picture--at the time I had just assumed it was P. caerulea. It was only later that I questioned WHY it had to be P. caerulea, and indeed the fact that the fruits had a modest number of seeds made me wonder. I sent off an email to the master gardeners (the organization founded by Nancy Garrison, btw) and they forwarded my question (is it P. caerulea or a specific caerulea hybrid?) to the woman I had spoken to. I trust that she can either answer this question or can track down someone who knows. So hopefully I'll hear back in a couple days. If I haven't heard and I'm in that part of town I'll either take a picture and look for late flowers or if I'm camera-less I'll take a leaf home.

Myles,

This should eliminate some possiblities.

Plant #1 photos--the leaves show 3,4 or 5 lobes.

So not P. caerulea, correct? So the plant does not match the pictured flower shown above in the Nursery's catalog.

The bloom will open soon, so I'll see whether it is indeed 'Blue Horizon' (one would hope they got that right).

Plant #2: I was over in that part of town and I was able to pick up a couple fallen leaves and a fruit. The leaves lost their shape some point after I picked them up--probably because they were no longer lying flat:

I take it the 5 and 7 lobes are in fact consistent with P. caerulea. I didn't see any obvious patterns when I looked at the petiole glands, but there were a number. The other plant--it was getting dark and I didn't get a good look--it looked like maybe pairs at roughly 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 up the petiole--but usually 2 and not 3 pairs (?)--as I say it was quickly getting dark. Plus I really don't have experience looking at such things.

I suppose I could have eliminated P. caerulea as a possibility for plant #1 immediately if I had a copy of Passiflora: Passionflowers of the World by Ulmer and John M. MacDougal...

It's Miles to the rescue!

{{gwi:31445}}

OK, that's not completely true. While that is in fact Miles (my little nephew), the book is on it's way by USPS. I ordered it way back on Monday...

Hopefully Timber Press won't sue me, but here's the sort of thing you find in the book. It would have made plant 1 very clear (i.e. not P. caerulea):

I assume the above is a violation of copyright law, but Timber Press is such a great publisher you should actually buy as many of their books as you can. No joke.

Plant #1 has bloomed.

The verdict is: P. 'Blue Horizon' ?

For some reason I'm not 100% sure--is the dark band on the corona filaments wide enough? The long length of the sepal awn (learned a new word--the pointed extension) seems consistent, though. Is this unusual? You may have to look at other pictures to see this clearly.

I gave the plant a quick look and couldn't tell whether it was a seedling or a cutting. I didn't see any evidence it was the latter, though. I would assume if they were mass producing them from cuttings one would see mostly cut ends. How might I tell if it were a seedling? The plant is only about 1 1/2 feet long. I just found old flower stalks are apparent as far close to 4 inches to the base of the plant. So it's a cutting. I mention this because the nursery grows almost everything from seed.

Plant #2: I heard back from the Master Gardener. The plant is indeed P. caerulea, bought from Raintree Nursery.

Mark
I think Plant 1 is P. 'Blue Horizon'. I am sure that the nursery will grow all its hybrids from cuttings.
Myles

Myles,

I agree with you on plant #1. However, the nursery has had problems in the past. I bought, for example, a kiwi where the sign said 'Issai' "self-fertle" (acually parthenocarpic). I noticed later the tag said Issai's Children'--seedlings, presumaby. The plant did in face have seed leaves Finally, I was told that the fact that the plant was furry suggested A. deliciosa in its background. The nursery confirmed the plant was 100% A. deliciosa. They said they were slow to replace the signs and tags

So anyway, when I see a plant like that where they've screwed up the picture (in this case they used P. caerulea) it makes me wondr what else might be screwed up.

In my opinion Annie's is the best kept secret among California nurseries. It's not perfeect, though.
arrived.