PASSIONFLOWER -- MAYPOP

Passionflower  (Passiflora incarnata)

The Franklin County Herb Demo Garden has a beautiful Passionflower vine. During our fall cleanup we found the Maypop fruit among the leaves. It was not fully ripe. It tasted both sweet and tart. You may eat the seeds. Very interesting. Here’s some TRiViA facts:

Maypop is a common name for this vine because of the loud popping sound made when the fruits are stepped on.

Maypop is the fruit. 
Usually wrinkled when ripe.

The fruit pulp is both sweet and tart and somewhat like tropical fruit. It can be made into jam or jelly, some baked goods, and ice cream. It is flavoring for homebrews, kombucha, wine, or drinking vinegar.

Each unique flower lasts about one day, appearing in the summer and early fall. 

It grows well vertically on a trellis or against a wall or fence.

Although thought to be an annual in Zone 6 it has proven to be a dependable perennial in Zones 5-9. It is native to the southeast U.S. and Central America.

 Fire Risk: This plant has an extreme flammability rating and should not be planted within the defensible space of your home. Select plants with a low flammability rating for the sites nearest your home.  -NCarolina Extension 

Grown on a trellis in the herb garden

This is a good native and pollinator plant attracting hummingbirds and butterflies in the summer and fall. For other wildlife, the foliage provides good, dense cover year-round. It is somewhat deer resistant. 

Passionflower vine can become a pest and invasive weed. When they escape cultivation they can become problematic weed in areas such as no-till agronomic crops, pastures, hay fields, and roadsides. Due to their thick, deep rhizomes, mechanical or cultural control can be very difficult. - Univ Missouri

The passionflower blossom, especially the flower of the purple passion fruit (P. edulis), is often used to symbolize events in the last hours of the life of Jesus Christ. Other plant parts may represent other people or events at that time.

CKagan, Master Gardener

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