Passiflora caerulea
Passiflora filipes
blue passion flower, bluecrown passionflower
slender passionflower
angular when young, glabrous.
terete, glabrous.
weakly pungent, glabrous;
stipules subreniform, 10–20 × 5–10 mm, glandular-serrate;
petiole glandular, glands clavate;
blade roughly symmetric, 3–10(–16) × 4–11(–14) cm, deeply (3–)5–7(–9)-lobed, middle lobe as long as or longer than lateral lobes, margins entire but often serrate basally on lobes;
abaxial fine veins prominently raised, abaxial nectaries scattered along margins.
not pungent, glabrous;
stipules linear-lanceolate, falcate, 2–4 × 0.5–1 mm, eglandular;
petiole eglandular;
blade roughly symmetric, 1–3(–5) × 1.5–6(–8) cm, shallowly 3-lobed, middle lobe ± as long as lateral lobes (usually to 1/4 blade length), margins entire;
abaxial fine veins not raised (especially in dried specimens), abaxial nectaries absent.
floral tube cuplike, 4–5 mm deep;
sepals white, 20–35 × 10–15 mm;
petals white, 20–40 × 10–15 mm;
corona filament whorls 4, outer filaments dark purple basally, white medially, purple apically (rarely entirely white), linear, terete to slightly flattened, 10–20 mm.
floral tube absent;
sepals pale green, 7–10 × 2–3 mm;
petals pale green, 3–5 × 1 mm;
corona filament whorls 2, outer filaments white basally, pale yellow apically, filiform, terete, 6–7 mm.
yellow-orange to orange, ovoid to ellipsoid, 30–50 × 30–35 mm.
purple-black, globose, 5–10 × 5–10 mm.
bracts ovate to ovate-oblong, 15–25 × 10–15 mm, margins entire or weakly serrate, eglandular.
bracts absent.
= 18.
Passiflora caerulea
Passiflora filipes
Passiflora caerulea is cultivated widely in the flora area but naturalized only in the Los Angeles metropolitan area (see F. Hrusa et al. 2002). It is possibly introduced in the Mule Mountains of southeastern Arizona (J. Koweek, pers. comm.), although this has not been confirmed. It was reported also from Utah by S. L. Welsh et al. (2003), although as “cultivated...long-persisting,” suggesting that it is not actually naturalized there. This species is cold-hardy and can be cultivated in gardens in relatively cold regions (at least USDA plant hardiness zone 6), but it is unlikely to flower in such areas because of relatively short growing seasons, although it still makes an interesting foliage plant. Even in the absence of sexual reproduction, this species can persist and even spread locally by root suckering.
The artificial hybrid Passiflora ×belotii will key to P. caerulea in this treatment. However, the leaves of P. ×belotii are consistently three-lobed, unlike the primarily five- to seven-lobed leaves of P. caerulea.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Passiflora filipes and P. lutea are morphologically similar and closely related (E. P. Killip 1938), yet they do not occur sympatrically. In the flora area, P. filipes is restricted to southernmost Texas; the southern range limit of P. lutea is at least 150 km north of the range of P. filipes. In addition to the relative lengths of middle leaf lobes, seed surface features distinguish these two species, with sharply and coarsely foveate seeds in P. filipes versus the more delicately and transversely sulcate seeds of P. lutea.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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