A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Passiflora Obovata
Known also as the passion flowers or passion vines. Nine species of Passiflora are native to the USA, found from Ohio to the north, west to California and south to the Florida Keys. Many Passiflora species produce sweet nutrient-rich liquid from glands on their leaf stems. These fluids attract ants which will kill and eat many pests that they happen to find feeding on the passion flowers.
Backyard.
The "Passion" in "passion flower" refers to the passion of Jesus in Christian theology. The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance. 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. The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail The 3 stigmas represent the 3 nails and the 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (four by the nails and one by the lance).
Without knowing where you got this specimen it is abit more difficult to tell with more photos of the leaf and growing habit and the like. If this is growing wild then it certainly is suberosa, if you bought it, it might be obovata as I found little information on it aside from the fact that it isn't one of Florida's natives. One thing I am sure of is the filiments are far too short to be Passiflora lutea, which you can see here: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/372...
Spotted on Oct 21, 2013
Submitted on Oct 21, 2013
