The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

banana passion fruit, banana passionflower, banana poka

twin-flower passionvine, two-flower passionflower

Stems

terete, densely hairy.

angular, minutely puberulent.

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, minutely puberulent;

stipules linear, 2–5 × 0.5–1 mm, eglandular;

petiole eglandular;

blade roughly symmetric, 2–7 × 3–10 cm, shallowly to deeply 2-lobed, margins entire;

abaxial fine veins prominently raised, abaxial nectaries not along leaf margins, usually in lines extending into leaf lobes on at least flowering stems.

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 cuplike, 1–3 mm deep;

sepals white, 13–17 × 4–6 mm;

petals white, 9–13 × 4–6 mm;

corona filament whorls 2, outer filaments green basally, yellow apically, linear-spatulate, laterally flattened, 5–8 mm.

Berries

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

blue-black, ovoid to ellipsoid, 20–30 × 15–20 mm.

Floral

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

bracts setaceous, 1–3 × 0.5 mm, margins entire, eglandular.

2n

= 12.

Passiflora tarminiana

Passiflora biflora

Phenology Flowering Jun–Sep(–Dec). Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Pine or oak woodlands and woodland edges Intact or disturbed tropical woodlands in loamy soil over limestone
Elevation 0–100 m (0–300 ft) 0–10 m (0–0 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; Mexico; Central America; West Indies (Bahamas); South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela) [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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.)

In the flora area, Passiflora biflora occurs only in southeastern Florida, where it is locally abundant and often an aggressive weed.

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

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 178. FNA vol. 6, p. 175.
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. affinis, P. arida, P. arizonica, 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) Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 3: 36. (1789)
Web links