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PASSIONFLOWER (Passiflora)
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See also:PASSIONFLOWER (Passiflora) , the typical genus of the See also:order to which it gives its name. The name passionflower—fos and detached See also:Flower. passions—arose from the supposed resemblance of the See also:corona to the See also:crown of thorns, and of the other parts of the flower to the nails, or wounds, while the five sepals and five petals were taken to symbolize the ten apostles—See also:Peter, who denied, and Judas, who betrayed, being See also:left out of the reckoning. The See also:species are mostly natives of western tropical See also:South See also:America; others are found in various tropical and sub-tropical districts of both hemispheres. The tacsonias, by some considered to See also:form See also:part of this genus, inhabit the See also:Andes at considerable elevations. They are mostly climbing See also:plants (fig. 1) having a woody stock and herbaceous or woody branches, from the sides of which tendrils are produced which enable the branches to support themselves at little See also:expenditure of See also:tissue. Some few form trees of considerable stature destitute of tendrils, and with broad See also:magnolia-like leaves in See also:place of the more or less palmately-lobed leaves which are most generally met with in the order. The See also:leaf is usually provided at the See also:base of the leaf-stalk with stipules, which are inconspicuous, or large and leafy; and the stalk is also furnished with one or more glandular excrescences, as in some cases are the leaf itself and the bracts. The inflorescence is of a cymose See also:character, the terminal See also:branch being represented by the tendril, the See also:side branches by flower-stalks, or the inflorescence may be reduced to a single stalk. The bracts on the flower-stalk are either small and scattered or large and leafy, and then placed near the flower, forming a sort of See also:outer calyx or epicalyx. The flower itself (seen in See also:section in fig. 2) consists of a receptacle varying in form from that of a shallow saucer to that of a See also:long cylindrical or See also:trumpet-shaped See also:tube, thin or fleshy in consistence, and giving off from its upper border the five sepals, the five petals (rarely these latter are absent), and the threads or membranous processes constituting the " corona." This coronet forms the most conspicuous and beautiful part of the flower of many species, and consists of outgrowths from the tube formed subsequently to the other parts, and having little morphological significance, but being physiologically useful in favouring the See also:cross-fertilization of the flower by means of See also:insects. Other outgrowths of similar character, but less conspicuous, occur See also:lower down the tube, and their See also:variations afford useful means of discriminating between the species. From the base of the inner part of the tube of the flower, but quite See also:free from it, uprises a cylindrical stalk surrounded below by a small See also:cup-like outgrowth, and bearing above the See also:middle a See also:ring of five See also:flat filaments each attached by a See also:thread-like point to an anther. Above the ring of stamens is the ovary itself, upraised on a prolongation of the same stalk which bears the filaments, or sessile. STIGMA the arrangement of its constituent parts. The stalk supporting the stamens and ovary is called the " gynophore " or the " gynandrophore," and is a characteristic of the order. The ovary of passionflowers is one-celled with three parietal placentas, and bears at the See also:top three styles, each capped by a large See also:button-like stigma. The ovary ripens into a See also:berry-like, very rarely capsular, See also:fruit with the three See also:groups ofj seeds arranged in lines along the walls, but imbedded in a pulpy arillus derived from the stalk of the See also:seed. This succulent berry is in some cases highly perfumed, and affords a delicate fruit for the dessert-table, as in the See also:case of the " See also:granadilla " (P. quadrangularis), P. edulis, P. macrocarpa, and various species of Tacsonia known as " curubas " in See also:Spanish South America; P. laurifolia is the See also:water-See also:lemon, and P. maliformis the sweet See also:calabash of the See also:West Indies. The fruits do not usually exceed in See also:size the dimensions of a See also:hen's or of a See also:swan's See also:egg, but that of P. macrocarpa is a See also:gourd-like oblong fruit attaining a See also:weight of 7 to 8 lb. The tacsonias, which in cultivation are generally regarded as distinct, differ from Passiflora in having a long cylindrical calyx-tube, bearing two crowns, one at the See also:throat, the other near the base; they are See also:stove or greenhouse plants; T. pinnatistipula, with See also:pale See also:rose-coloured See also:flowers, a native of See also:Chile and See also:Peru, has long been in cultivation; T. See also:Van-Volxemii, with handsome See also:scarlet flowers, is one of the finest species. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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