Purple passionflower

Description:

Long trailing vine like stem that produces these amazing intricate flowers. Leaves are alternate and palmately 3-lobed.

Habitat:

Spotted at the edge of an forest in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The maypop occurs in thickets, disturbed areas, near riverbanks, and near unmowed pastures, roadsides, and railroads. It thrives in areas with lots of available sunlight. It is not found in shady areas beneath a forest canopy.

Notes:

As with other passifloras, it is the larval food of a number of butterfly species, including the zebra longwing and Gulf fritillary. In many cases its fruit is very popular with wildlife. The egg-shaped green fruits 'may pop' when stepped on. This phenomenon gives the P. incarnata its common name.Historically, the plant has been used as an herbal medicine in the belief it may treat anxiety, insomnia, or hypertension. Non-primary source needed] Methanol extractions from the leaves has been reported to be an effective antitussive in mice.Passionflower is included in the national pharmacopeias of France, Germany, and Switzerland, and is also monographed in the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia and the British Herbal Compendium, the ESCOP monographs, the Community Herbal Monographs of the EMA, the German Standard Licences, the German Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia, the Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, and the Pharmacopeia of Egypt.[citation needed] The botanical drugs included in the current European and British Pharmacopoeias are the dried aerial parts of the plant. In North America and South America, tea made from the roots is used as a tonic In Australia, it is commonly believed to be a sedative and anxiolytic.