Passiflora edulis, commonly called purple passionfruit, is a shallow-rooted, tendril-climbing, evergreen vine that typically grows to 10-15’ long and to 3-5’ wide and produces extremely showy bowl-shaped fragrant purple-white passionflowers (each to 3” wide) followed by edible, ovoid, purple passionfruits (to 2" across). P. edulis f. flavicarpa is a yellow-fruited form commonly called yellow passionfruit. Purple passionfruit is native to Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, but is now grown in tropical and subtropical climates throughout the world. This vine clings to supports by coiled tendrils. Individual flowers bloom for one day. Each flower has 5 greenish-white sepals, 5 white petals and a decorative corona of white filaments which are showy purple at the bases. In Florida, the purple-white flowers begin blooming in early spring with the passionfruits typically ripening about 80 days after flowering occurs (from late May to July). Each fruit has a rough rind with as many as 250 tiny seeds inside, each seed being surrounded by an orange sac containing juice. Ripe fruits are edible off the vine or incorporated into a variety of food products such as beverages, jellies, fruit salads and sherbets. Three-lobed evergreen leaves (to 3-8" long) are finely-toothed, deep green and glossy above but dull green below. Young stems are tinged with red or purple. Glossy, three-lobed leaves (3-5" long) with serrate margins have two small glands on the stalks. Passionflowers have an acquired religious significance that dates back to the 1700s when early Spanish settlers interpreted various parts of the flower to be symbolic of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, hence the common name.
Genus name comes from the Latin words passio meaning passion and flos meaning flower.