Passiflora tarminiana
Passiflora mexicana
banana passion fruit, banana passionflower, banana poka
Mexican passionflower
terete, densely hairy.
subangular, glabrous.
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;
stipules linear-subulate, 1.5–2.5 × 0.5 mm, eglandular;
petiole eglandular;
blade roughly symmetric, 1.5–7(–15) × 2.5–8(–14) cm, moderately to deeply 2-lobed, margins entire;
abaxial fine veins weakly to moderately raised, abaxial nectaries not along leaf margins, usually in 2 lines and rarely extending into leaf lobes at least on flowering stems.
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 green, 13–17 × 4–6 mm;
petals green, 3–4 × 1 mm;
corona filament whorls 2, outer filaments red, becoming purple, linear, terete, 5–12 mm.
yellow to orange-yellow, oblong to ellipsoid-fusiform, 100–140 × 35–45 mm.
purple-black, globose to subellipsoid, 8–16 × 7–14 mm.
bracts leaflike, 25–50 × 20–30 mm, margins entire, eglandular.
bracts linear-subulate, 1–4 × 0.5 mm, margins entire, eglandular.
Passiflora tarminiana
Passiflora mexicana
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.)
The leaf shape of Passiflora mexicana is varies greatly within individual plants. Lateral leaf lobes are much shorter and apically rounded on slower-growing or flowering branches, but are relatively long and truncate on vigorously-growing, nonflowering branches, suckers, and young plants. A striking feature of this species is that as the flowers become less receptive to pollination the coronal filaments and limen (disc at base of the androgynophore) dramatically change color; the corona from red to purple, the limen from orange to yellow or white. The typically fetid flowers of this species may be wasp-pollinated (J. M. MacDougal and R. McVaugh 2001).
Passiflora mexicana may consist of a small complex of species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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