1220 



PASSIFLORA 



PASSIFLOEA 



dently setting forth the five wounds received by our 

 Lord on the cross. The colour of the column, the crown, 

 and the nails is a clear green. The crown itself is sur- 

 rounded by a kind of veil or very fine hair, of a violet 

 colour, the filaments of which number seventy-two, 

 answering to the number of thorns with which, accord- 

 ing to tradition, our Lord's crown was set; and the 

 leaves of the plant, abundant and beautiful, are shaped 

 like the head of a lance or pike, referring, no doubt, to 



1650. Fruit of the May-pop. Passiflora incarnata. 



Natural size. 



that which pierced the side of our Savior, whilst they 

 are marked beneath with round spots, signifying the 

 thirty pieces of silver.'" 



With the exception of a few Malayan and Chinese 

 species, the true Passifloras are natives of tropical 

 America. Many of them are cultivated as curiosities, 

 and some of them for the beauty of their flowers and 

 for their festooning foliage. The leaves are either digi- 

 tately lobed or angled or perfectly entire. The large, 

 showy flowers are solitary in the axils or on axillary 

 racemes. The fruit is oblong or globular and usually 

 fleshy or berry-like, 3-carpeled but 1-loculed, the seeds 

 being borne on parietal placentee. The fruit is allied to 

 the pepo of the Cucurbitacese. The ovary is supported 

 on a long stalk which is inclosed in or usually united 

 with the tube formed by the union of the bases of the 

 filaments. The structure of the fruit is well shown in 

 Fig. 1650; the remains of the floral envelopes have 

 broken from the attachment on the torus and rest on 

 the fruit. The petals are borne on the throat of the 

 calyx, but in some species they are absent. Nearly or 

 quite a dozen Passifloras are native to the U. S., and 

 one of them, P. lutea, grows naturally as far north 

 as southern Pa. and Illinois. From Virginia south, the 

 Maypop, P. incarnata, is a very common plant in fields 

 and waste places. Both these species are herbaceous 

 perennials. The fruit of some Passifloras is edible. 



In cultivation, the Passifloras have been considerably 

 hybridized, and they are also confused with Tacsonia. 

 In 1871 Masters enumerated 184 species (Trans. Linn. 

 Soc. 27), and a number of species have been discovered 

 since that time. 



Most of the Passion-flowers are yellow or green in 

 color of envelopes, but there are fine reds in P. race- 

 mosa, P. Baddiana, P. coccinea, P. alata, P. vitifolia, 

 and two or three others. L H B 



P. ccerulea and Constance Elliott are both hardy at 

 Washington. In summer time we use P. foetida (raised 

 from seed annually), and during the last two seasons, 

 P. Colimensis, for trellis work. The last named is a 

 good thing for this line of work ; the fls. are white, 

 purple center, about 2 in. in diameter; native of Mexico; 

 very easy to prop, from cuttings of soft wood. Not many 

 of the tender species and hybrids are grown to any great 

 extent in this country. P. alata and P. quadrangularis 

 are desirable climbers for a roomy, warm greenhouse. 

 P. quadrangularis, var. aiicubifolia , seems to flower 

 quite as freely as the green-leaved one. Passifloras 

 are prop, from cuttings of the half -ripened growth, with 

 bottom heat. P. racemosa and P. Loudoni are a trifle 

 difficult to root from cuttings; the growths should be as 

 ripe as possible for this purpose. Keep the under sur- 

 face of the leaves flat on the sand while rooting. The 

 native jP. incarnata grows very freely at Washington, 

 becoming more or less of a weed and hard to eradicate. 



G. W. OLIVER. 



INDEX. 



A. Corona with sharp folds, and crinkled at the edge. 

 B. Fls. apetalous, usually with no bracts. 



1. gracilis, Jacq. Slender annual: Ivs. rather small, 

 broadly deltoid-ovate, very shallowly and bluntly 3- 

 lobed: fls. solitary, pale green or whitish, considerably 

 surpassed by the Ivs., the calyx-lobes oblong or lanceo- 

 late, the -filiform rays of the corona in a single row and 

 equal: seeds with 6 elevated ridges. Brazil. B.R. 11:870. 

 Fl. about 1 in. across. Easily grown either indoors or 

 in the open, as a garden annual. 



BB. Fls. petal^fero^ls , with large bracts. 



2. aden6poda, Moc. & Sess. (P. acerifolia, Cham. & 

 Schlecht.). Lvs. glabrous, cordate, 3-nerved and 5- 

 lobed, the lobes ovate-acuminate and somewhat serrate: 

 bracts cut-serrate. Mex. to S. Amer. Once advertised 

 by Saul. 



3. Hahnii, Mast. Tall, glabrous climber, with very 

 slender terete branches: Ivs. ovate, peltate at base, 

 strongly 3-nerved and each of the side nerves ending in 

 a tooth, but the leaf-margin otherwise entire but bearing 

 minute red glands: stipules kidney-shaped, dentate, 

 purplish, nearly or quite 1 in. across: fl. -bracts 2, en- 

 tire: fl. about 3 in. across, solitary, whitish, the corona 

 shorter than the envelopes, the outer filaments being 

 orange. Mex. B.M. 7052. R.H. 1869, p. 430 (as Dis- 

 emma Hahnii). G.C. II. 12:504. 



BBB. Fls. with minute petals and small linear distinct 



bracts, 

 c. Leaves oblong-ovate. 



4. trifasciata, Lem. Lvs. 3-lobed to one-third or one- 

 half their depth, the margins entire, with an irregular 

 reddish purple band along each of the three midribs: 

 fls. yellowish, fragrant, small. Brazil. I.H. 15:544. 

 Interesting for its ornamental foliage. 



cc. Leaves broader than long. 



5. lutea, Linn. Herb, 5-10 ft. tall, glabrous : Ivs, 

 broader than long, shallowly 3-lobed, cordate at base: 



