''Passiflora'', known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family

Passifloraceae The Passifloraceae are a family of flowering plants, containing about 750 species classified in around 27 genera. They include trees, shrubs, lianas, and climbing plants, and are mostly found in tropical regions. The family takes its name from t ...

. They are mostly tendril-bearing vines, with some being

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s or trees. They can be woody or

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

. Passion flowers produce regular and usually showy flowers with a distinctive corona. There can be as many as eight coronal series, as in the case of ''P. xiikzodz''. The flower is

pentamerous Merosity (from the greek "méros," which means "having parts") refers to the number of component parts in a distinct whorl of a plant structure. The term is most commonly used in the context of a flower where it refers to the number of sepals in a ...

and ripens into an indehiscent fruit with numerous seeds.

List of species

Distribution

''Passiflora'' has a largely

neotropic The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

distribution, unlike other genera in the family

, which includes more

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

species (such as the genus '' Adenia''). The vast majority of ''Passiflora'' are found in Mexico, Central America, the United States and South America, although there are additional representatives in Southeast Asia and Oceania. New species continue to be identified: for example, '' P. xishuangbannaensis'' and '' P. pardifolia'' have only been known to the scientific community since 2005 and 2006, respectively. Some species of ''Passiflora'' have been naturalized beyond their native ranges. For example, the

blue passion flower ''Passiflora caerulea'', the blue passionflower, bluecrown passionflower or common passion flower, is a species of flowering plant native to South America. It has been introduced elsewhere. It is a vigorous, deciduous or semi-evergreen tendril vi ...

(''P. caerulea'') now grows wild in Spain.Dana ''et al.''

001 001, O01, or OO1 may refer to: *1 (number), a number, a numeral *001, fictional British agent, see 00 Agent *001, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian fire brigade (until 1986) *AM-RB 001, the code-name for the Aston Martin Valkyrie ...

/ref> The purple passionfruit (''P. edulis'') and its yellow relative ''flavicarpa'' have been introduced in many tropical regions as commercial crops.

Ecology

Passion flowers have floral structures adapted for

biotic pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, a ...

. Pollinators of ''Passiflora'' include bumblebees, carpenter bees (e.g., '' Xylocopa sonorina''), wasps, bats, and

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

s (especially hermits such as '' Phaethornis''); some others are additionally capable of self-pollination. ''Passiflora'' often exhibit high levels of pollinator specificity, which has led to frequent coevolution across the genus. The

sword-billed hummingbird The sword-billed hummingbird (''Ensifera ensifera''), also known as the swordbill, is a neotropical species of hummingbird from the Andean regions of South America. It is the only member in the genus ''Ensifera.'' Among the largest species of ...

(''Ensifera ensifera'') is a notable example: it, with its immensely elongated bill, is the sole pollinator of 37 species of high Andean ''Passiflora'' in the supersection ''Tacsonia''. Knospe der Passionsblume

The leaves are used for feeding by the larvae of a number of species of

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

. Famously, they are exclusively targeted by many butterfly species of the tribe

Heliconiini Heliconiini is a tribe of butterflies in the subfamily Heliconiinae, also known as the passion-vine butterflies. This group has roughly 100 species and subspecies distributed primarily in the Neotropics.extrafloral nectaries Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to anim ...

, trichomes,

variegation Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones in the leaves and sometimes the stems and fruit of plants. Species with variegated individuals are sometimes found in the understory of tropical rainforests, and this habitat is the s ...

, and chemical defenses. These, combined with adaptations on the part of the butterflies, were important in the foundation of coevolutionary theory. The following lepidoptera larvae are known to feed on ''Passiflora'': * Longwing

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

( Heliconiinae) ** Cydno longwing (''Heliconius cydno''), one of few Heliconians to feed on multiple species of ''Passiflora'' ** Gulf fritillary (''Agraulis vanillae''), which feeds on several species of ''Passiflora'', such as '' Passiflora lutea'', ''Passiflora affinis'', stinking passion flower (''P. foetida''), and Maypop (''P. incarnata'') ** American Sara longwing (''Heliconius sara'') ** Red postman (''

Heliconius erato ''Heliconius erato'', or the red postman, is one of about 40 neotropical species of butterfly belonging to the genus ''Heliconius''. It is also commonly known as the small postman, the red passion flower butterfly, or the crimson-patched longwing ...

'') ** Asian

leopard lacewing ''Cethosia cyane'', the leopard lacewing, is a species of Heliconiinae, heliconiine butterfly found from India to southern China (southern Yunnan), and Indochina. Its range has expanded in the last few decades, and its arrival in the southern par ...

(''Cethosia cyane''). **

Postman butterfly ''Heliconius melpomene'', the postman butterfly, common postman or simply postman, is a brightly colored butterfly found throughout Central and South America. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae' ...

(''Heliconius melpomene'') prefer '' P. menispermifolia'' and '' P. oerstedii'' **

Zebra longwing ''Heliconius charithonia'', the zebra longwing or zebra heliconian, is a species of butterfly belonging to the subfamily Heliconiinae of the family Nymphalidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of ''Systema Natura ...

(''Heliconius charithonia'') feed on yellow passion flower, two-flowered passion flower ('' P. biflora''), and

corky-stemmed passion flower ''Passiflora suberosa'' is a species of passionflower that is native to the Americas. It is commonly known as corkystem passionflower due to the corkiness of older stems. Other common names include corky passion vine, cork-bark passion flower, c ...

('' P. suberosa'') ** Banded orange (''Dryadula phaetusa'') feed on '' P. tetrastylis'' ** Julia butterfly (''Dryas iulia'') feed on yellow passion flower and '' P. affinis'' *

Swift moth The Hepialidae are a family of insects in the lepidopteran order. Moths of this family are often referred to as swift moths or ghost moths. Taxonomy and systematics The Hepialidae constitute by far the most diverse group of the infraorder Exopo ...

Cibyra serta ''Cibyra serta'' is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is known from Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by ...

'' *

Tawny Coster Tawny may refer to: * Tawny (given name), a feminine given name * Tawny (color) * Tawny port, a fortified wine * ''Tawny'', a 1954 record album by Jackie Gleason * Tawny, a townland in Kilcar, County Donegal, Ireland See also * Tenné In her ...

(''Acraea terpsicore'') feed on '' Passiflora edulis'', ''

Passiflora foetida ''Passiflora foetida'' (common names: stinking passionflower, wild maracuja, bush passion fruit, wild water lemon, stoneflower, love-in-a-mist, or running pop) is a species of passion flower that is native to the southwestern United States (south ...

'' and ''

Passiflora subpeltata ''Passiflora subpeltata'', commonly known as white passionflower, is a passion flower bearing yellow-green fruits. It is a vining plant with three-lobed leaves and 2-3 ornate flowers. It is grown as an ornamental plant. This vine is also a margi ...

'' The generally high pollinator and parasite specificity in ''Passiflora'' may have led to the tremendous morphological variation in the genus. It is thought to have among the highest foliar diversity among all plant genera, with leaf shapes ranging from unlobed to five-lobed frequently found on the same plant.

Coevolution In biology, coevolution occurs when two or more species reciprocally affect each other's evolution through the process of natural selection. The term sometimes is used for two traits in the same species affecting each other's evolution, as well ...

can be a major driver of speciation, and may be responsible for the radiation of certain clades of ''Passiflora'' such as ''Tacsonia''. The

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s of the stinking passion flower are covered by hairs which exude a sticky fluid. Many small insects get stuck to this and get digested to

nutrient A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

-rich goo by proteases and

acid phosphatase Acid phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.2, acid phosphomonoesterase', phosphomonoesterase, glycerophosphatase, acid monophosphatase, acid phosphohydrolase, acid phosphomonoester hydrolase, uteroferrin, acid nucleoside diphosphate phosphatase, orthophosphoric-m ...

s. Since the insects usually killed are rarely major

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

, this passion flower seems to be a

protocarnivorous plant A protocarnivorous plant (sometimes also paracarnivorous, subcarnivorous, or borderline carnivore), according to some definitions, traps and kills insects or other animals but lacks the ability to either directly digest or absorb nutrients from i ...

. Banana passion flower or "banana poka" (''P. tarminiana''), originally from Central Brazil, is an

invasive Invasive may refer to: *Invasive (medical) procedure *Invasive species *Invasive observation, especially in reference to surveillance *Invasively progressive spread of disease from one organ in the body to another, especially in reference to cancer ...

weed, especially on the islands of Hawaii. It is commonly spread by feral pigs eating the fruits. It overgrows and smothers stands of endemic vegetation, mainly on roadsides.

Blue passion flower ''Passiflora caerulea'', the blue passionflower, bluecrown passionflower or common passion flower, is a species of flowering plant native to South America. It has been introduced elsewhere. It is a vigorous, deciduous or semi-evergreen tendril vi ...

(''P. caerulea'') is holding its own in Spain these days, and it probably needs to be watched so that unwanted spreading can be curtailed. On the other hand, some species are endangered due to unsustainable

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

and other forms of habitat destruction. For example, the

Chilean passion flower Chilean may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Chile, a country in South America * Chilean people * Chilean Spanish * Chilean culture * Chilean cuisine * Chilean Americans See also *List of Chileans *