LUTHER BURBANK 



method of destroying it when it is once introduced. 

 But this very thriftiness may become an advan- 

 tage, once the plant has been sufficiently trans- 

 formed to assume position as a valuable fruit 

 bearer. 



This common Maypop was the plant with which 

 my experiments in developing the fruiting possi- 

 bilities of the Passion Flower began. But my 

 interest soon extended to other species, including 

 the best Australian varieties of at least three spe- 

 cies, and a number of new species from South 

 America that were not named by my collector and 

 have not been identified. 



One of the most promising Australian species 

 is known as Passiflora edulus. It produces a much 

 larger quantity of fruit than the Maypop, but is 

 less hardy than that plant. Several of the South 

 American species are too tender to be grown even 

 in California. One of these, known as Passiflora 

 ccurules, bears a fruit about the form and size of 

 a small watermelon, yellowish-green in color, with 

 an attractive edible pulp. I have cultivated this 

 species, but it has not entered to an important 

 extent into my experiments, because of its extreme 

 tenderness. 



The fruit of the species with which I have 

 chiefly worked is usually about the size of a hen's 

 egg- 



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