Passion Flower, Maypop

Description:

Common vine with ornate flower. Name refers to the passion of Christ. In the Southeast U.S., the edible fruit (second photo) is called a "maypop" and it's a favorite with wildlife ... larval food of a number of butterfly species. People can eat it, too. Traditional remedy for insomnia and axnxiety.

Habitat:

Passiflora is a genus of about 500 species of flowering plants. Nine species are native to the United States. It grows in thickets, disturbed areas, near riverbanks and unmowed pastures, roadsides and railroads. Thrives in direct sun, not found in shady areas beneath a forest canopy. This specimen, a little ragged toward the end of the flowering season, is growing at the side of the road at the edge of pine woods.

Notes:

The fleshy fruit, or maypop, is an oval yellowish berry about the size of a hen egg. It is green at first, but becomes orange as it matures. In cooking, the fruit of this variety is sometimes used for jam and jellies. It can also be eaten raw and was a favorite of colonial settlers of the South and Native Americans alike. But don't eat any wild plant unless you know what you're doing, right?

Butterflies specifically associated with the Passion Flower:
Zebra Longwing and Gulf Fritillary

The "passion" refers to the passion of Jesus Christ. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish missionaries saw symbols of the last days of Jesus in the flower, including:

The tendrils represent the whips used in the flagellation of Christ.

The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles, excluding St. Peter the denier and Judas Iscariot the betrayer.

The flower's radial filaments, which can number more than a hundred and vary from flower to flower, represent the crown of thorns.

In non-Christian countries, the flowers have reminded people of the face of a clock. In Israel they are known as "clock-flower," and in Japan they are called "clock plant".