Passiflora, known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, and the type genus of the family Passifloraceae.
Passiflora species are widely cultivated for their striking flowers, flavorful fruits, traditional medicinal uses, and roles in dietary supplements and ayahuasca analogs, with several ornamental hybrids earning Royal Horticultural Society awards.
Description
The genus mostly produces tendril-bearing vines, as well as some shrubs and trees. The plants can be woody or herbaceous.
The flowers are regular and usually showy, with a distinctive corona. There can be as many as eight concentric coronal series, as in the case of P. xiikzodz. and P. alata. The hallmark of the genus is the androgynophore, a central column to which the stamens and pistil are attached, which can be very long in some species such as P. coactilis. The flower is pentamerous (except for a few Southeast Asian species) and ripens into an indehiscent fruit with numerous seeds.
The fruit ranges from 5–20 centimetres (2–8 in) long and 2.5–5 cm (1–2 in) across, depending upon the species or cultivar.
Many Passiflora species have been found to contain beta-carboline harmala alkaloids, some of which are MAO inhibitors. The flower and fruit have only traces of these chemicals, but the leaves and the roots often contain more. The most common of these alkaloids is harman, but harmaline, harmalol, harmine, and harmol are also present. The species known to bear such alkaloids include: P. actinia, P. alata (winged-stem passion flower), P. alba, P. bryonioides (cupped passion flower), P. caerulea (blue passion flower), P. capsularis, P. decaisneana, P. edulis (passion fruit), P. eichleriana, P. foetida (stinking passion flower), P. incarnata (maypop), P. quadrangularis (giant granadilla), P. suberosa, P. subpeltata and...
