Passiflora Species, Banana Passion Flower, Banana Poke, Banana Passion Fruit

Passiflora tripartita var. mollissima is not the plant most commonly called "P. mollissima", which is actually P. tarminiana. Myles Irv...Read Moreine's Passiflora site (Passiflora Online) has a description of the confusion under the P. tarminiana entry.

P. tripartita var. mollissima is not the invasive species found in Hawaii and is not what you will likely get if you buy "P. mollissima" seeds or plants. P. tarminiana is relatively common in cultivation (and almost always given the incorrect name P. mollissima), whereas P. tripartita var. mollissima is much harder to find.

I've submitted a photo of the true P. tripartita var. mollissima. The petals are short relative to the very long floral tube and the flower never opens past a bell shape (it never opens flat). Hybrids are also common, but I'm told mine is typical of the true species. The flower is so different from P. tarminiana that you can't confuse the two if you've seen both.

If the petals are more than about 50% the length to the floral tube, the flower is not P. tripartita var. mollissima. To add to the confusion most photos online that are labeled P. tripartita var. mollissima are incorrectly labeled.

The other comments preceding mine belong in the entry for P. tarminiana, not P. tripartita var. mollissima.

Initially introduced for ornament and fruit, P. mollissima has become one of the worst forest destroying weeds in the Hawaiian islands, c...Read Moreovering thousands of acres of forest on the Big Island and Kaua'i.

On the path up to Kalala'u Valley lookout, this plant was everywhere. Growing into the native trees, covering the hillside. Very pretty flowers and big fruits.

Hi!
Passiflora Mollisima, which in Hawai'i (Kaua'i at least) is known as Banana Polka, is invasive in Kaua'i and other tropical cl...Read Moreimates. Therefore before planting it make sure you will be able to contain the plant. Seeds can be harvested from fruit after it is yellow (when ripe). Fruit has nice, tangy taste when ripe. Water plant regularly. Very pretty flowers. Enjoy!