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Help! What Is This Odd Flower?

Ask The Plant Expert:

Do you know the name of this flower? This flower is so odd and different.  No one I talk to knows what it is.  Maybe you can help. – Donna

Passion Flower - Passiflora caerulea

Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:

Donna,

I love this flower. My parents have a big area of passion flowers in the wooded area of their property. The one my parents have is Passiflora incarnata or purple passion flower which is a vine. Yours is most likely Passiflora caerulea which is commonly called blue passion flower or common passion flower. This too is a vine.

  • A sibling to both of these is Passiflora edulis also known as passionfruit.
  • Passiflora can be found in the following states AL, AR, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV.
  • It can become invasive in the right circumstance.  However, it is a good food source for terrestrial birds.
  • The fruit of the Passiflora caerulea is edible.  However, in the raw form it is not too tasty. When cooked you can use it as a substitution for blackberries.
  • Another benefit of this plant is that it attracts butterflies.

Hope this information was helpful.

Passion Precedes This Strange Blue Flower

Passionflower - Passiflora

Passionflower - Passiflora

Ask the Expert: What kind of flower is this one found in Florida?
This flower is strange. I have never seen it before… Dereck

Plant Expert Reply:

What you have is a blue passionflower (Passiflora caerulea).  It is a twining vine that can grow 30ft in length. Passionflower is evergreen in tropical climates.  Although it will survive in areas where the winters are cool, the vine will become deciduous. They will produce a fruit that is edible.  Passionflowers are wonderful additions to butterfly gardens since they are exclusive hosts for numerous species of Heliconian butterflies.

This flower identification was brought to by real local florists across the United States and Canada.

Passion Flower Isn’t A Good Wedding Flower

Ask The Expert: Help! I’m hoping because of your name you’ll know the anwser.  I’m a fairly new florist, and I have a bride that wants a few passionflowers in her bouquet.  But I can’t find them as cut flowers anywhere.  I could try to grow a few vines, but I don’t want to promise her if I can’t find them anywhere already grown.  Any idea how I could get a few for a Sept 5 wedding? Susan

Reply:

The idea of using a passion flower in a wedding bouquet sound simply romantic.  However, in the real world it wouldn’t be as romantic as it sounds.  I can not think of any cut flower grower that carries passion flowers.  In fact, I doubt that the flower would last long once it is cut from the vine.  If the bride wants to incorporate the passion flower in her wedding, you might try using potted passion flower vines.  I would, however, caution her that the plant may not have blooms when she wants them.  You might try Logee’s Greenhouse in Connecticut if you need the plants.

Just a little side note:  Love was not the inspiration behind the Passion Flower name.  This flower actually was inspired by the Passion of Christ on the cross.  Spanish Christian missionaries from the 15th and 16th century felt that the physical structure of the plant symbolized the Crucifixtion and the filaments in the flower represented the crown of thorns.  So, they named the the flowering vine passion flower.