THE PAPAYA AND ITS RELATIVES 



247 



THE GIANT GRANADILLA (Fig. 31) 

 (Passiflora quadrangularis, L.) 



While this is the largest-fruited species of the genus, and 

 one of the most widely distributed, it is not the best in quality. 

 From its native home in tropical America it has been carried 

 to the eastern tropics, where it is now grown in many places. 

 It is common in the West Indies, 

 but nowhere is it cultivated on a 

 commercial scale. 



The plant is somewhat coarse 

 and is a strong climber. The 

 stems are four-angled, as indi- 

 cated by the specific name, and 

 the leaves are ovate or round- 

 ovate, cordate at the base and 

 mucronate at the apex, entire, 

 and 6 or 8 inches long. The 

 flowers, which are about 3 inches 

 in diameter, are white and pur- 

 ple in color. The fruits are ob- 

 long, up to 10 inches in length. 

 H. F. Macmillan says: "Its 

 large, oblong, greenish-yellow 

 fruit is not unlike a short and 

 thick vegetable-marrow, and con- 

 tains in its hollow center a mass of purple, sweet-acid pulp 

 mixed with flat seeds." A horticultural form exists which has 

 leaves variegated with yellow. 



This species is more tropical in its requirements than P. 

 ligularis and P. edidis. It will grow in southern Florida, 

 but is not successful in California. A. Robertson-Proschowsky 

 reports, however, that it has fruited on the French Riviera 



FIG. 31. The giant granadilla 

 (Passiflora quadrangularis) . (X \ 



