Passiflora tarminiana
Passiflora arizonica
banana passion fruit, banana passionflower, banana poka
Arizona passionflower
terete, densely hairy.
terete, densely hairy.
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.
pungent, densely hairy, glandular-ciliate;
stipules pectinate, 1–8 × 1–4 mm, with glandular bristles or hairs;
petiole with glandular bristles or hairs;
blade roughly symmetric, 1.5–5 × 1–7 cm, moderately to deeply 3–5-lobed, middle lobe as long as or longer than lateral lobes, margins sharply dentate;
abaxial fine veins weakly to moderately raised, abaxial nectaries absent.
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 cuplike, 5–7 mm deep;
sepals white, 17–38 × 6–9 mm;
petals white, 16–30 × 6–12 mm;
corona filament whorls 5 or 6, outer 2 whorls white basally, pale purple apically, linear, terete to transversely compressed, 9–25 mm.
yellow to orange-yellow, oblong to ellipsoid-fusiform, 100–140 × 35–45 mm.
green to yellow-green, ovoid, 20–35 × 18–30 mm.
bracts leaflike, 25–50 × 20–30 mm, margins entire, eglandular.
bracts pinnatifid, 15–35 × 10–28 mm, margins sharply dentate, with glandular bristles or hairs.
Passiflora tarminiana
Passiflora arizonica
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 arizonica is known only from portions of Pima and Santa Cruz counties, Arizona, and eastern Sonora, and has been confused with P. arida (D. H. Goldman 2003). It flowers during the summer rainy season, usually August and September. Unlike most other members of the genus, particularly those of sect. Dysosmia, to which it belongs, P. arizonica flowers in the evening, closing around midnight. The fragrant flowers have a deep floral cup, and may be pollinated by nocturnal moths.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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