Passiflora foetida

Common Name : Love in a mist, Wild maracuja, Stinking passionflower, Goat scented passion flower, Wild water lemon, Passion vine, Running Pop, Bush passion fruit Botanical name : Passiflora foetida Family : Passifloraceae[passion flower family]

Kingdom - Plantae

Division - Magnoliophyta

Class - Magnoliopsida

Subclass - Rosidae

Order - Malpighiales

Genus - Passiflora

Species - foetida

Origin / Native - Mexico, Texas, Brazil, Caribbean islands, Central & South America, West Indies, US

Habit / Category - Creeping, climbing vine, herb

Height - Up to 4.5 meters [15 feet]

Spread - 1.5 meters [6 feet]

Flowers - Small, showy, white, pale cream, purple color, 4 layers, 1-petals[12], 2-double layered purple hairy style segment, 3-anther, filament = stamen[yellow,green, 5], 4-stigma, 2.3 inches blooms

Foliage - Dark green, deciduous, aromatic, heart-shaped, three lobed, hairy, alternately arranged, long stalked

Stems - Thin, wiry, woody, branched, cylindrical with sticky yellow hairs, emit unpleasant odor when crushed

Fruits - Edible, globose/ball-shaped, 1.18 inches, green, yellow, orange, red color with white pulps, fruit is eaten

Seeds - Black

Hazards - Plants are poisonous

Uses - Medicinal, environmental, pharmaceutical, ornamental

Life Cycle - Annual or perennial, biennial

Flowering Season - All year round

Light Requirement & Care - Full Sun, part shade, average water, loams, sands, moist, poor soil, low maintenance

Attracts -Bees, birds, butterflies

Grows in - Riverbanks, wastelands, coastal areasroadsides, rough pastures, upland rice fields

Growth Rate - Fast

Good For - Hedges, fences, ground cover

Hindi - Jhumka lata flower

Tamil - Siruppunaikkali, Mupparisavalli

Flower buds covered with sepals

Passiflora foetida flower buds

Passiflora foetida foliage-Flowers, Leaves, Buds, Fruits, Stems

Passiflora foetida-Leaves, Flower buds, Hairy stems

Unopened flower bud-covered by bracts

Passiflora foetida-Fully opened flowers

Passiflora foetida flowers with stigma

Passiflora foetida flower sepal

Matured flower

Passiflora foetida-Immature fruit

Passiflora foetida fruit

Passiflora foetida-developing fruit stage1

Matured fruit covered by bracts

Photographs: Guna Selvi Camera: Nikon D40x Location : Cauvery river, Srirangam, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, South India