Prolific passionflower softens hardscapes
Editor's note: Once a month, the OSU Extension master gardener's office of Franklin County profiles a plant that occurs naturally in central Ohio.
Happy bumblebees stumbling over one another to feed on robust passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) can only be described as intoxicated. Perhaps bees might be the first to notice this exotic and intricately beautiful flower currently in bloom, but passersby aren’t far behind. Also called maypop, this vine is one of two native passionflowers in Ohio from this mostly subtropical family.
The name passionflower is said to represent the passion of Christ, with different flower and plant parts symbolizing aspects of the crucifixion: For example, the stamen is the hammer that drove nails; the thin purple filaments, the crown of thorns; and the 5 anthers for wounds suffered.
The large, showy flowers bloom from July to September at about 2 inches long with white or lavender colored centers from which radiate thin, wavy purple
threads. The yellowish stamens and anthers arise from the middle, timed to develop neatly into position such that bees can cross-pollinate for fruit development.
Maypop is its other common name due to the ‘pop’ of the fruit when stepped on. The herbaceous vine has dark green leaves with three to five deeply cut lobes, and can quickly climb by tendrils up and out at to 8 feet tall by 6 feet wide, to top out at 25 feet! The edible and sweet egg-shaped fruit turns from green to yellow as it matures. The plant has a long history of medicinal use by Native Americans and is thought to calm the mind for better rest. The plant attracts pollinators and butterflies including the fritillaries and hairstreaks.
Vines complete the landscape. They soften hardscapes, block unsightly fences, and utilize a niche reserved just for them. Indeed passionflower may prove aggressive, as can our native clematis, trumpetcreeper, and Virginia creeper. However, natives are usually kept in check by neighboring plants, animals, and pathogens that evolved in careful balance. Native plant enthusiasts implore gardeners to reserve the term “invasive” for our ever-growing, non-native species that harm ecosystems, people, or economies.