The Natural System of Botany* 299 



from its cup, they compared to the crown of thorns. They called 

 it in allusion to its mystical attributes, Flos Passionis, a Latin 

 name signifying Passion-flower." The species which compose 

 t he order, are twining plants, which support themselves by 

 tendrils, and bear a large, juicy fruit. The structure of the 

 flower is unique. The calyx has five sepals, usually green on 

 the outside, and colored inside. The petals are of the same 

 number, and always of the same color with the inside of the 

 sepals. Next within the petals "come several rings of beau- 

 tiful fleshy threads, which spread from the cup like rays, and 

 are splendidly mottled with azure, and crimson, and white. If 

 there be one part of a plant more beautiful than all others, it is 

 this ray (or crown of thorns, as the Spaniards called it) in the 

 Passion Flower ; the crimson blotches upon it do really look 

 like stains of blood." Botanists themselves are hardly agreed 

 upon the nature of these singular rays. Some consider them 

 petals, and some stamens, in an imperfect state. In the centre 

 of the flower, rises a column, having at its summit five stamens, 

 each with a two-lobed anther, swinging from the point of a flat 

 filament. The column itself consists of an outer sheath formed 

 by the adhesion of the filaments, and an interior solid cylinder, 

 on the top of which grows the ovary. This is egg-shaped, and 

 has a single cavity, with three parietal placentae, from which 

 spring the ovules. Its summit bears three swollen stigmas. 

 The fruit is a fleshy body, of the same shape with the ovary, 

 and very variable in size and color in differennt species. In 

 the common Passion-flower it is about as large as a hen's egg t 

 and of an orange color ; in others it is smaller, and quite 

 round ; and in some tropical species, the Granadillas, it is as 

 large as a cocoa-nut, and of a greenish color. These are culti- 

 vated, and much esteemed for their refreshing pulp. The roots 

 of some of the order are poisonous, containing a principle 

 resembling Morphine j and this sometimes is found in the 

 fruit and flower. 



Nearly all the plants of the order are natives of tropical 

 America, whence the cultivated species are brought. Two 

 species are native as far north ay Pennsylvania, and Virginia. 



