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banana passion fruit, banana passionflower, banana poka

bract passionflower

Stems

terete, densely hairy.

terete, glabrous, minutely puberulent to scabrous when young.

Leaves

not pungent, densely soft-hairy abaxially, sparsely hairy adaxially;

stipules subreniform, often leaflike, 4–7 × 2–3 mm, eglandular;

petiole glandular, glands emergent protuberances;

blade roughly symmetric, 5.5–16(–28) × 7–16(–29) cm, deeply 3-lobed, middle lobe as long as or longer than lateral lobes, margins serrate;

abaxial fine veins prominently raised, abaxial nectaries absent.

not pungent, glabrous or minutely puberulent;

stipules linear-setaceous, 1–2 × 0.5 mm, eglandular;

petiole eglandular;

blade roughly symmetric, 1–8(–10) × 1.5–10 (–14) cm, shallowly to deeply 3(–5)-lobed, middle lobe as long as or longer than lateral lobes, margins entire;

abaxial fine veins weakly to moderately raised, abaxial nectaries circular, usually in 2 short lines or also scattered near leaf margins.

Flowers

floral tube elongate, 60–80 mm deep;

sepals pink, 45–60 × 12–25 mm;

petals pink, 40–54 × 15–20 mm;

corona filament whorls 1, filaments tuberculate knobs, purple basally, white apically, 1–2 mm.

floral tube absent;

sepals pale green to white, 10–16 × 2–4 mm;

petals pale green to white, 6–13 × 1–2 mm;

corona filament whorls 2, outer filaments purple basally, white medially, green apically, linear-filiform, terete, apically clavate, 9–18 mm.

Berries

yellow to orange-yellow, oblong to ellipsoid-fusiform, 100–140 × 35–45 mm.

purple-black, globose to ovoid, 10–15 × 10 mm.

Floral

bracts leaflike, 25–50 × 20–30 mm, margins entire, eglandular.

bracts linear-subulate, 1–3 × 0.5 mm, margins entire, eglandular.

Passiflora tarminiana

Passiflora affinis

Phenology Flowering Jun–Sep(–Dec). Flowering (May–)Jun–Oct.
Habitat Pine or oak woodlands and woodland edges Oak-juniper woodlands, shrublands, and savannas, in moist to dry, loamy soil over limestone
Elevation 0–100 m (0–300 ft) 100–800 m (300–2600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Passiflora tarminiana is sparingly naturalized in the eastern San Francisco Bay area (F. Hrusa et al. 2002) and southward along the coast to San Luis Obispo County, in areas of minimal summer drought.

This species was recently described, and is commonly confused with Passiflora mollissima (Kunth) L. H. Bailey [now usually recognized as P. tripartita var. mollissima (Knuth) Holm-Nielsen & P. Jørgensen]. Many reports of P. mollissima in agricultural, horticultural, and weed-science literature actually apply to P. tarminiana. An attractive plant with large, edible fruits (T. Ulmer and J. M. MacDougal 2004), it is an extremely aggressive weed in Hawaii (A. M. La Rosa 1984, as P. mollissima) and other areas where it has been introduced in the Old World tropics and subtropics. The species is unlikely to become a widespread weed in the continental United States because it cannot survive frost nor occasional desiccation.

A similar, closely related species, Passiflora mixta Linnaeus f., is a rare escape in San Francisco, California; it can be distinguished from P. tarminiana by its angular young stems, persistent stipules (deciduous in P. tarminiana), and a floral tube 80–110 mm deep, 1.6–2.6 times the sepal length (1.3–1.6 times in P. tarminiana).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Passiflora affinis is similar to P. lutea in leaf shape and flower appearance. However, P. affinis has nectaries on the abaxial surface of the leaves, which are absent in P. lutea. Passiflora affinis also has floral bracts, and flowers greater than 25 mm in diameter with clavate to capitate, sinuous outer corona filaments more than 10 mm long. Passiflora lutea lacks floral bracts and has flowers less than 25 mm in diameter with apically unornamented, typically straight outer corona filaments that are usually less than 10 mm long.

In the flora area Passiflora affinis is restricted to central Texas, where its leaves are often appropriately shaped like cowboy hats. E. P. Killip (1938) erroneously suggested that it is native to New Mexico, based upon the misinterpretation of herbarium label data (D. H. Goldman 2004).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 178. FNA vol. 6, p. 179.
Parent taxa Passifloraceae > Passiflora Passifloraceae > Passiflora
Sibling taxa
P. affinis, P. arida, P. arizonica, P. biflora, P. bryonioides, P. caerulea, P. ciliata, P. filipes, P. foetida, P. incarnata, P. lutea, P. mexicana, P. multiflora, P. pallens, P. pallida, P. sexflora, P. tenuiloba
P. arida, P. arizonica, P. biflora, P. bryonioides, P. caerulea, P. ciliata, P. filipes, P. foetida, P. incarnata, P. lutea, P. mexicana, P. multiflora, P. pallens, P. pallida, P. sexflora, P. tarminiana, P. tenuiloba
Name authority Coppens & V. E. Barney: Novon 11: 9, figs. 1, 3, plate 1. (2001) Engelmann: Boston J. Nat. Hist. 6.: 233. (1850)
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