Passiflora tarminiana
Passiflora pallida
banana passion fruit, banana passionflower, banana poka
corkystem passionflower
terete, densely hairy.
terete, glabrous or sparsely hairy, (bark with corky ridges or wings).
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 sparsely hairy;
stipules linear-subulate, 2–5 × 0.5 mm, eglandular;
petiole glandular, glands clavate;
blade usually symmetric, (1–)3–10(–17) × (0.5–)2–6(–14) cm, as long as to usually longer than wide, unlobed or deeply 3-lobed, middle lobe longer than lateral lobes, or asymmetrically 2- or 3-lobed with 1 lateral lobe greatly reduced or absent, lobes rounded to acute, margins entire;
abaxial fine veins moderately to prominently 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 absent;
sepals green, often becoming purple, 4–8 × 2–3 mm;
petals absent;
corona filament whorls 2, outer filaments green, green-white, or purple basally, yellow apically, linear, terete, 2–4 mm.
yellow to orange-yellow, oblong to ellipsoid-fusiform, 100–140 × 35–45 mm.
blue-black, globose to ovoid, 5–13 × 5–10 mm.
bracts leaflike, 25–50 × 20–30 mm, margins entire, eglandular.
bracts absent or minute.
= 24.
Passiflora tarminiana
Passiflora pallida
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 leaves of Passiflora pallida show variation in lobe number, from juvenile to adult plants, and within and among individuals, with both unlobed and three-lobed leaf forms most common. In Texas, leaves on mature plants are always symmetrically three-lobed; in Florida, leaves can be unlobed, symmetrically three-lobed, or asymmetrically two- to three-lobed. Passiflora pallida is also self-compatible, an unusual feature in the genus.
In peninsular Florida, Passiflora pallida is widespread and locally common to occasionally weedy. In Texas, it is relatively uncommon, known only from the extreme southernmost part of the state and from a single disjunct population about 150 miles northward in Refugio County (S. R. Hill 1981).
Traditionally synonymized under Passiflora suberosa in our region (for example, D. S. Correll and M. C. Johnston 1970; R. L. Hammer 2002; R. P. Wunderlin and B. F. Hansen 2003), P. pallida is closely related to the larger-flowered P. suberosa and commonly is treated as conspecific with it worldwide. The hypanthium of P. pallida generally is 3–4 mm in diameter, with inner coronal filaments usually less than 1.5 mm and outer filaments less than 4 mm, whereas in P. suberosa the hypanthium generally is 4–8.8 mm in diameter, with inner coronal filaments usually 1.5–3.9 mm and outer filaments (2.5–)3–8.1 mm. Passiflora suberosa is native in
Mexico, the West Indies, and Central and South America, and has been widely introduced in tropical regions (weedy in Hawaii), but does not occur in the flora area. In regions where the two species naturally co-occur, P. pallida generally is found at lower elevations than P. suberosa. These two species and close relatives were reviewed by K. E. Porter-Utley (2003).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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