Texas Gardening: Texas Native Plant Pictures by color ( Purple ), 1 by debnes_dfw_tx

debnes_dfw_tx wrote:
Passiflora incarnata L.
Common Name(s): May-pop, Passionflower, Apricot vine, Purple passion-flower
From http://www.wildflower.org/:

Quoting:Description: Purple passion-flower is an herbaceous vine, up to 25 ft. long, that climbs with axillary tendrils or sprawls along the ground. Intricate, 3 in., lavender flower are short-stalked from leaf axils. The petals and sepals subtend a fringe of wavy or crimped, hair-like segments. The pistil and stamens are also showy. Three-lobed, deciduous leaves are dark-green above and whitish below. The fruit is a large, orange-yellow berry with edible pulp.

Comments: This unusual flower is widely distributed in the South, especially from Florida to Texas. The name relates to the resemblance of the floral parts to aspects of the crucifixion story. The 10 petal-like parts represent the disciples, excluding Peter and Judas; the 5 stamens the wounds Jesus received; the knob-like stigmas the nails; the fringe the crown of thorns. Yellow Passion Flower (P. lutea), a small yellow-flowered species, occurs from southeast Pennsylvania to Florida, west to Louisiana, and north to Missouri, Illinois, and West Virginia.

This plant is one of several Passifloras which are caterpillar host for the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)
http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/debnes_dfw_tx_1165542366_77...