I think it's a Maypop, the scientific name of which is Passiflora incarnata.

Sent by Kate | 6:16 PM ET | 09-05-2007

Why yes I do. We had this plant when I was a child and now I am growing my own in my backyard. Tragically, I exterminated a whole seasons worth of catepillars which are native to the plant, and had they lived would have metamorphosed into beautiful Gulf Fritillary butterflies. I've since learned from my mistake and am graced with butterflies every season.

Sent by Chris Robichaux | 6:16 PM ET | 09-05-2007

Good blurb! I was able to recognize it but I am a biologist for a Wildlife Refuge. Shame on me if I couldn't ID that plant! Please don't ask me to ID anymore, I'd like to stay on my roll!

Cheers!

Sent by laurie lomas | 6:19 PM ET | 09-05-2007

It reminds me of when I was a child. The vines would wind themselves up the trees in our garden and the passion flowers would bloom around Easter time. My mother told us they symbolized the nails that were used to crucify Christ to the cross and the crown of thorns. This flower does not have the same petals and no crown of thorns like the ones I knew. I haven't seen one in many years. Thank you for sharing

Sent by Ramon Montano | 6:32 PM ET | 09-05-2007

Last summer I moved from rural Rhode Island to urban North Carolina, and was thrilled to find Passiflora incarnata growing in my new yard. In spite of a major landscaping project (to get rid of non-native invasives and plant native species in my yard), begun before the Maypop came up, the Maypop has thrived and I've trained it to grow up the railing on my front porch and onto a trellis. It's doing great in spite of this summer's drought, and is beloved by the local insects.

Sent by Lisa Gould | 6:58 PM ET | 09-05-2007

This is too weird. Just today as I was walking across Hofstra University (a route I have a thousands times) I saw this flower for the first time growing against a building and hiding behind a bush. I even stopped a few students to point out this amazing flower. Then I go to the ATC site to vote for the theme song and there it is again!

Sent by Carol | 7:04 PM ET | 09-05-2007

Kate has it!!! p. incarnata is correct. A less invasive, hardier variety is p. caerulea (sp?) 'blue crown'.

Sent by Mr. Booth | 7:19 PM ET | 09-05-2007

Yes I can grow it! I live on the west coast of Florida and it grows like a weed down here. I have it growing in various places on the side of my yard & it keeps popping up all over the yard so I have to keep pulling it up like a weed. It is beautiful though and I think the fruit is supposed to be edible.

Sent by Sydney Gray | 7:37 PM ET | 09-05-2007

Why would you pull up such a beautiful native plant? I live in the right habitat. I've even transplanted them when they popped up in the "to be mowed" path. Problem is, caterpillars devour them like crazy so most don't survive. Go caterpillars, go passiflora incarnata!

Sent by Linda Krause | 7:51 PM ET | 09-05-2007

I bought this plant as "giant purple people eater" from a online nursery as a fun thing to do with my daughter. I saved the seeds and planted them this year and have many plants but none bloomed this year so I am hoping they might make it to next season. I learned that it is called the passion flower for association with Christ and the deciples and his crucifiction. An interesting plant in so many ways!

Sent by m. criscione | 8:13 PM ET | 09-05-2007

Can I grow that in Southern California?!!! Wow. Specifically, will it grow in the great, parched wind tunnel below the Cajon Pass known as the Inland Empire. We are living proof that Southern California does have weather, just not much of it is good weather. Oh, but that plant would be worth any amount of work.

Sent by Frances Wright-McCalmont | 8:16 PM ET | 09-05-2007

The fruit is edible and tastes good too! We ate them while staying a few months in Ecuador. Then over a year after we returned from our trip, I was surprised to find one growing in rural NC in a ditch along the road. Now I see them all of the time. The first time I showed one to my class of 6th grade students they stared at it in awe for what seemed like an eternity!!

Sent by Lisa Barkley | 10:26 PM ET | 09-05-2007

I have seen the Passion flower in my childhood home in Ohio, then growing everywhere in Seattle...and now I live in Houston, where it's also happily climbing fences. Despite it's delicate shape, it's a hardy flower growing in many climates!

Sent by Sharon | 10:55 PM ET | 09-05-2007

Wow! Beautiful photo, Andy. Beautiful flower.
I'm going to see if I can get the seeds around here
(Montgomeray Co. PA). Gotta grow this one!

Sent by Paul Pierlott | 11:39 PM ET | 09-05-2007

Beautiful! I have a passion flower vine, grown from a start a colleague gave me. She warned me not to stand too close to it or it would engulf me, and that's not far from true! It loves our hot humid summers in the KC area. I yank them up all summer; they must have an amazing root system! I love the fragrance too.

Sent by Judy | 11:46 PM ET | 09-05-2007

Well folks, so far no one's come up with the right species name for this Passiflora. P. incarnata IS one its parents, but that won't get you the right plant if you order it from a catalog. So hold off on those orders!
All will be revealed Thursday afternoon...

Sent by Ketzel Levine | 11:55 PM ET | 09-05-2007

Wonderful pic! Living in Hawaii, that was as easy as a jack-in-the-pulpit might be to a Northerner!
In fact there are blooms opening on my stoop as we speak

Sent by K | 2:27 AM ET | 09-06-2007

It's a variety of what we in Hawaii call lilikoi, passion fruit, and is common here. The flower grows on a climbing vine that produces excellent fruit for juice, syrups, jellies, or just plain eating raw. (Not native to the islands.)

Sent by Waimea Williams | 2:50 AM ET | 09-06-2007

I have to admit I've never seen this flower in my life--beautiful as it is. However, I do know my way around google and wikipeida and see the the petals of p. incarnata are light almost white while yours is much darker. To me it looks like "p. Incense" in your photo which is more purple than the p. serratifolia (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_flower)

Sent by Jer Gallagher | 4:48 AM ET | 09-06-2007

The leaf on this beautiful vine looks nery much like Virginia Creeper, which I love for its fall colors. I was surprised to see this, as this very plant is growing with great gusto at the school I work at in Bryan Texas. I'll be most interested in finding out what it actually is!

Sent by Christine Faber | 8:25 AM ET | 09-06-2007

Indeed, the fruit is edible, though a bit of a pain to eat raw (but a nice taste). Additionally, the flowers make a very nice tea. It is supposed to help one sleep better, but regardless it tastes very nice.

I prefer to sometimes make a tea immediately after I pick it, this keeps it mild. Otherwise the flowers should be dried after about 1 day. Don't be scared if you end up with a bright green tea from the dried product!

Beautiful plant, it gives off a strong scent that has helped me to locate it in dense vegetation before I can spot it by eye.

Sent by Jason Zinn | 8:39 AM ET | 09-06-2007

Hi everyone.... Thanks so much for the comments on the photo - I really appreciate it. If anyone is interested in taking an up-close look at it, here's a link to a high-resolution version of it. The wiry petals look a bit out of focus close-up, but you can really see the details of the stamens. Amazingly, I didn't even take the picture with a proper camera. I photographed it with my camcorder, which happened to have a still-photo feature as well. It's only five megapixels, though. I may bring my eight megapixel camera back to the gardens with a tripod the next time I'm there just to do the flower justice it deserves....

Sent by andy carvin | 8:58 AM ET | 09-06-2007

I recently enjoyed these blooming knock out beauties in Germany, specifically at the Insel Hombroich, a land of dreams where art and nature are allies.

Sent by rita nosper-stenicka | 9:19 AM ET | 09-06-2007

Here is some fo the symbolism associated with the Passion Flower:
Five petals & five sepals are ten apostles, leaving out Judas the betrayer & Peter because he denied knowing Jesus. The purple carolla Bosio reported had seventy-two filaments, the number of thorns in Jesus's crown. The three pistil stigmas are nails. The five stamens are the number of wounds, so that to this day, Catholics in South & Central America call it "The Flower of the Five Wounds." The leaf represents the spear that placed the wound in Jesus's side (that one is a stretch since the leaves are five-lobed, but unlike some other species, this one's individual lobes are at least lance-shaped). The dark spots under the leaves are the 33 pieces of silver paid to Judas. When the flowers are spent after a single day (the time Jesus spent on the cross), the petals do not drop from the vine but re-close over the ovary, & this symbolizes the Hidden Wisdom that constitutes the Mysteries of the Cross, & is like Jesus enclosed in the tomb.

This rich symbolism was embellished by later authors so that the white petals came to represent the purity of Jesus, the palmate leaves the hands of his prosecutors, & the clinging tendrils the cords of Jesus's bondage (or the whips with which he was lashed). The fruit itself is the Earth for which Jesus promised salvation.

Sent by Liz | 10:00 AM ET | 09-06-2007

Passiflora incarnata

Sent by Michael McWhirter | 10:02 AM ET | 09-06-2007

I think it's also considered a wildflower in the southeast, although I've never been blessed enough to see any growing.

Sent by kate | 10:19 AM ET | 09-06-2007

We have this growing on our arbor. Well, ours is a pale blue. Not quite as showy. My australian shepherd eats the flowers he can reach.

The reason this plant is not more popular is that it is EXTREMELY invasive. Tendrils are coming up several feet away in the grass. It has grown 10x its size in one (admittedly rainy) season.

We joke that the children are not allowed to stand too close lest they be caught!

Sent by Beth | 10:35 AM ET | 09-06-2007

It's a passion flower. We grew 2 kinds last year on our back porch; one looked just like that, the other had straight (instead of squigley things like that one). Some smell very nice, some well, not so much.

Sent by Erin | 10:37 AM ET | 09-06-2007

It is a Passiflora flower which the Gulf Fritillary butterflies use as host plant. It is a very important part of every butterfly garden.

Sent by Judith Wible, M.D. | 11:13 AM ET | 09-06-2007

Passiflora incarnata, or Maypop. This one I have known as long as I can remember. It's burned in my memory from when I was a little girl and these grew all along the country road where I lived. We used to pretend the flowers were ballerinas, with three sets of arms and three heads. We would take the fruit and use toothpicks to make little animals. These was one of my favorite plants and provided hours of summer fun. I never thought of them as a garden plant before, but now I do, and I plan to plant some in my yard.

Sent by Michelle | 11:17 AM ET | 09-06-2007

Glad you mentioned the butterflies, Judith... I actually took the photo at Brookside Garden's butterfly pavilion. Along with their indoor pavilion, which is home to hundreds of exotic butterflies, the courtyard to the pavilion is set up as an outdoor butterfly garden, which is where I spotted the flower. Here's a video I shot of the butterflies, in case anyone is interested.

Sent by andy carvin | 11:17 AM ET | 09-06-2007

I found a passion flower growing on a graveyard debris pile, transplanted it to a 2 gallon pot & it's sitting on my patio right now, blooming. I tried transplanting others, but the long tap root makes it impossible to dig down enough to get all of it. But one lived in a small pot, even after it went brown from drying out once. I re-watered it & it came back out. I brought it into the house before the first frost, put it in front of a south-facing window & watered it all winter. It didn't do much there in the window, just survived, but come spring when I sat it out in a bigger pot in the direct sun it sprang to life and I put a support around it. They love the sun.

They grow wild in the fields in the southeast, and mama calls them 'maypops', because the fruit will explode in your hand when it's ripe.

Sent by J Rhinehart | 11:19 AM ET | 09-06-2007

I think it's a passion fruit!!! (although mine is a little different looking). I have one and then all of the lovely senoran desert catapillars came and ate it for lunch!

Sent by Michelle Boshart | 11:21 AM ET | 09-06-2007

C'mon kids, I handed you the passion vine stuff (Passiflora, in the second graph!), although I am LOVING all this free-associating. Great stuff. Now get out those plant encyclopedias -- unless you're actually thinking of working today instead?

Sent by Ketzel Levine | 11:37 AM ET | 09-06-2007

its growing in my front yard in south park of san diego, california

Sent by eric | 11:41 AM ET | 09-06-2007

I am a landscape gardening major, and I know this plant well. It is Passiflora incarnata. (make note of the incarnata - it reincarnates itself readily!!!) We got some from a friend an planted it in our yard. MISTAKE! It has taken over the entire bed - both by seeding itself, and spreading underground. It is beautiful, but can be very invasive and hard to keep up with. Be careful where you plant it!

Sent by Emily | 11:45 AM ET | 09-06-2007

Isn't this a passion flower?

Sent by Cheryl Bradley | 11:48 AM ET | 09-06-2007

WOW!Curious how this vine seems to grow everywhere. I grew up in El Paso, Texas(over 30 years ago,too!) and my Dad planted the vine and told me the same symbolism that has been posted. I've not seen it since and will now be on the hunt to add it to my graden! Thanks.

Sent by Margaret | 12:14 PM ET | 09-06-2007

Getting warmer.... Yes, it's a passionflower, but p. incarnata isn't correct. Like Ketzel said, if you go online and order an incarnata, you'll get a great flower, but it won't be this one. But you're definitely on the right track....

Sent by andy carvin | 12:18 PM ET | 09-06-2007

WOW - this flower is wonderful. I dont know if it would grow here in Iowa but I would love to try. I think it is the carvin passiflora, but not sure if that is right

Sent by Eliza Linn | 12:24 PM ET | 09-06-2007

There's a carvin passiflora? If so, well, I'm flattered. :-) But no, that's not the case. But what a coincidence it would be if it were? :-)

Sent by andy carvin | 12:29 PM ET | 09-06-2007

Is it Passiflora 'Incense'? A hybrid of P. incarnata and P. cincinnata.

Sent by Jim D. | 12:40 PM ET | 09-06-2007

I found another variety, Passiflora foetida, on Wikipedia. It's not native to the US, grows in South America, the West Indies & Southeast Asia. It's white, with a bad smell, but it's edible too, and it's also used to relieve sleeping problems like ours.

Sent by J Rhinehart | 12:40 PM ET | 09-06-2007

is this a p. incarnata x p.cincinnata hybrid? common name of Blue velvet?

Sent by l craig | 12:41 PM ET | 09-06-2007

Wikipedia says there are 9 varieties of Passiflora that grow in the US, 500 varieties worldwide on every continent including Antarctica.

It's listed as an endangered species in Ohio. But it's a weed in other places.

Some of the fruits grow as big as a grapefruit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora

Sent by J Rhinehart | 12:54 PM ET | 09-06-2007

You should read the Wikipedia entry again:

"The family Passifloraceae is found world wide, excluding Europe and Antarctica."

Sent by andy carvin | 1:04 PM ET | 09-06-2007

Ive got these growing wild by my water spicket in the backyard......priclkly vine..........just about every year when its 90+ it will bloom...odd creature....

Sent by Richard Purvis | 1:24 PM ET | 09-06-2007

It must be Passiflora Incense if its not P. incarnata no? I can't remember the other parent (P. foetidissima perhaps?)

Sent by Tai Haku | 1:34 PM ET | 09-06-2007

tacsonia?

Sent by Bess | 3:03 PM ET | 09-06-2007

I will have to agree with Passiflora incarnata x cinnicata 'Incense'.
Seems to be the only one with those extra long lashes.

Sent by Kailla in Portland | 3:04 PM ET | 09-06-2007

You all sound so sure it's the incarnata, could it be Passiflora serratifolia? That looks to me to be a closer match in my plant encyclopedia and when i did a google image search on Passiflora serratifolia.

Sent by Jilly | 3:39 PM ET | 09-06-2007

Do I get another chance to guess? Is it passifloria actinia? It looks like an anemone...

Sent by Bess | 3:45 PM ET | 09-06-2007

I don't think so Bess, the under petals on the passiflora actinia are white where here they are blue/purple. Andy, forgive me, forgot to give you big props on that photo - absolutely awe inspiring to me what nature can produce! thanks a million for the eye candy!! Still standing by my guess of Passiflora serratifolia :D Oh, the butterflies video is happily fun, thanks for sharing! Happy gardening everyone!

Sent by Jilly | 3:55 PM ET | 09-06-2007

The 1st time i saw a Passion Flower vine in bloom, I was totally amazed!
Now my daughter grows many different varieties & her kids are becoming great
appreciators of this incredible beauty also!

Sent by judy emerson | 4:11 PM ET | 09-06-2007

I was tempted by the p. Serratifolia too ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Passiflora_serratifolia2.jpg ), but I think the orchid-like dapling of the stammens and the prominent petals look more like andy's high-res version. I'm sticking with p. Incense. =)

Sent by Jer Gallagher | 4:45 PM ET | 09-06-2007

OK! OK! HERE'S THE ANSWER: Passiflora x 'Incense'!

Child of P.incarnata and P.cinnicata. Hardy to Z6, but I wouldn't plant it till next spring. Abudantly available online.

P. 'Incense' doesn't appear to be remotely as gregarious as the non-native P. caerulea, which seems to be able to smother entire gardens in the Pacific NW. And as aggressive as P. incarnata is, well, at least it was born here.

Thank you ALL for playing. Too bad we can't give out prizes, but anything that involves NPR's Legal Dept is bound to ruin the fun.

Big shout out to the big winners: First Jer, then Jim, then Craig got really close, then Tai and finally Kailla, who backed the right horse.

Did anyone figure it out without googling? Just wondered.

Got anything YOU'D like to submit for next week's Whodunnit?

Sent by Ketzel Levine | 4:59 PM ET | 09-06-2007

Your picture looks like Passiflora 'Incense' as in the photo on the Wikipedia page. Is it? it's a beautiful blue/violet, & the petals are the same shape. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora

They also have photos of 15 other varieties.

I've been reading around the web about Passiflora varieties. I never realized there were so many. Or that it had been hybridized in Great Britain. Some of these are red or pink & look more like orchids. They're very pretty.

There's also a government site,
http://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=profile&symbol=PASSI&display=63

I also found a link in Wikipedia for medicinal uses for Passifolia. I'd heard that it was used to help people sleep, and it says the chemical is a form of "benzodiazipines", used for anxiety, hysteria, sleeplessness, and seizures. And it's said to be very effective.
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/passionflower-000267.htm

Sent by J Rhinehart | 5:04 PM ET | 09-06-2007

Just to echo what Ketzel said, thanks to everyone that took a shot at guessing, and kudos to those who nailed it. If you've got a photo of a flower or plant you'd like to stump the rest of us with (Stump! Get it?) you should join our photo sharing group on Flickr, upload it there, and reference it in its Stump Ketzel discussion thread.

Sent by andy carvin | 5:23 PM ET | 09-06-2007

I'm not sure if anyone's mentioned this already, but I just now discovered, quite on accident (it was a very funny coincidence), that the Passionflower is the state wildflower of Tennessee, my native state. It's beautiful, but I've never seen one growing wild or cultivated.

Sent by Erika | 5:46 PM ET | 09-06-2007

Passiflora: guess why... the latin name reffers to the shape similar to a Cross (Christian Cross). That's why: Passion flower, and Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis). Beautifull picture; the juice is absolutelly deliciuos

Sent by Juan F. Zeledon | 7:21 PM ET | 09-06-2007

Stunning flower--will it grow well in South Florida?

Sent by Dorys Saxlehner | 9:23 PM ET | 09-06-2007

Passion Flower is in many of the garden catalogs - if you've been reading them and dreaming for any number of years, you will know this plant/vine.
(BUT, I don't have one.) It is beautiful, and has a wonderful religious connection!

Sent by Tom Farrell | 10:25 PM ET | 09-06-2007

We had one in Central Florida, where it grew wild in odd places.Now we're back in the hot Inland Empire of S. California (it's down to the 90's from 111 the other day), and I would love to grow them here. Is it possible?

Sent by Jill Johnson-Young | 11:45 PM ET | 09-06-2007

Ive got hundreds in the back yard. What a nice fruit, tart, tangy, sour and sweet. We make smoothies, stirfry and pancacke syrup with the fruit. A common drink in Hawaii is POG: passion, orange guava. We've so many we throw the fruits to the dogs instead of tennis balls. This is luxury; Haiku, Maui.

Sent by branden hazlet | 6:58 AM ET | 09-07-2007

Fabulous flower! I was amazed to see them growing wild along a fence post of a corner street house near an open market I used to go to while living in Panama City,FL. They immediately caught my eye and congered warm memories of my Peace Corps days visiting local guatemalan farmers and how they "regalared" me dozens of their delicious fruits called granadilla. Of course, volunteers called them "snot fruit" but that was really undermining their delicious flavor. It also of course made me think of "maracuya" which is a favorite juice I seek out while I'm in Central and South America and is derived from another species of the Passiflora genus.Cheers to these unique and beautiful flowers!!

Sent by Marvin Friel | 7:41 AM ET | 09-07-2007

The Passion Flower in the photo is the prettiest and most vibrant I've seen. I loved those Maypops when I was growing up. (When I mentioned Maypops to others, they seemed to not know what I was talking about. Now, I no longer feel alone.) In those days, they grew on their own in the yard. To my great delight, the vine I rescued from a mark-down rack turned out to be a Passion Vine. It has had an abundance of flowers but none with as indepth color as I remember. They definitely do not match the beauty of the one in the photo. Oh, by the way, I always saw a ballerina when the flower appeared. Could that mean I less religious than those who see symbols of people and events from the Bible? Anyway, we've never eaten the fruit. Where does one find a recipe book for Maypops or Passion Fruit?

Sent by Virginia Baysden | 8:52 AM ET | 09-07-2007

it is a passion flower -- the outer delicate "petals" represent the crown of thorns of Christ - and the center is suppose to represent the three crosses of the crucifix. It is also, I believe, the state flower of Tennessee. My grandmother would be so proud to know I remember what she talked about when I was a kid.

Sent by Margaret Crites | 9:01 AM ET | 09-07-2007

I got it without googling but then having grown about a dozen species through to flowering from seed and this is my favourite variety. That said it seems to be a fairly weak cultivar to me. I've killed it fairly quickly everytime I've tried it (giving it the same regimen as other species like P. coccinea that should be less hardy). Apparently this one can get a virus of some kind and I think some of the other hybrids from the same parents are supposed to be more resistant. I also understand its not particularly free-fruiting which is a shame cos its an awesome flower.

Sent by Tai Haku | 9:39 AM ET | 09-07-2007

if anyone gets a crop of the passion fruit it makes great juice. just scoop out the pulp into the blender with some water. after blending push the mixture through a fine strainer add sugar, a drop of vanilla extract, and more water if ness.

Sent by sarene | 10:07 AM ET | 09-07-2007

In Portland Oregon, where I live, the Passion Flower vine is very invasive! I don't like it anymore for that reason. While it is beautiful, I would try a native vine instead like a honeysuckle.

Sent by Lupin Hill | 10:13 AM ET | 09-07-2007

It is a passion vine, (Maypop) the annual version in Texas. It is very invasive. I've never been able to start any from seed but the durn thing can spread itself all over the neighborhood without any help from me. I do also own a passiflower (evergreen in Fort Worth) and it requires regular de-caterpillaring at least once a day and the fruit requires vigorous protection from squirrels and birds. I'm outside everyday though meeting those requirements. They are absolutely one of the most awe inspring vines I've ever grown.

Sent by vici | 12:11 PM ET | 09-07-2007

I don't know the name, but I had it growing over an arbor in my home in South Texas. It attracts the most beautiful butterflies and it is a remarkable-looking bloom.

Sent by Adrian Jackson | 1:50 PM ET | 09-07-2007

In India, the symbolism extends to the story of Mahabharata. The 5 anthers represent the 5 Pandava brothers while the numerous radial filaments represent the 100 Kaurava brothers. The stigmata in the center represents Lord Krishna (sometimes its Krishna with Bhishma and Drona - two of the elders). I knew this flower as a "Kaurav - Pandav" flower.

Sent by Dilip | 2:52 PM ET | 09-07-2007

This is a passion flower or vine - I have a native patch in my front yard that bear fruit each year. I would like to get them to climb my fence, but have yet to succeed. My mom in PA has a large patch moved from NC that grows well and climbs a trellis.

Sent by Audrey | 3:28 PM ET | 09-07-2007

It used to grow wild right next to the curb in my hometown of Dothan, AL. We called it the Alien Flower.

Sent by Lin haraway | 4:21 PM ET | 09-07-2007

Passion Flower. I brought them from Maryland to Indiana for 2 brothers and 3 sisters. One brother calls it Herpes Plant. Once you get it...you got it.

Sent by Abe Rittenhouse | 6:11 PM ET | 09-07-2007

What a cool coincidence. I moved to TN a couple years ago, from Maine. Last year I found what looked like a passion fruit growing beside our road, and I was so confident (for I had grown up in the Vietnam and other tropical climes) that it was one that I ate the fruit. This was much to my wife???s chagrin, for she doubted my identification skills. This year I was searching for the same plant and finally saw one with these beautiful unique blossoms. I looked passion fruit up on the internet and confirmed that it was the same flower. My friends thought I was crazy claiming passion fruit, a tropical plant, grew here. I took photos and E-mailed them to our cooperative extension service and they confirmed that it was Passiflora incarnata and informed me that it was native and that the Cherokee used it for medicinal purposes. I transplanted a few of these wild roadside plants to my yard before the town mower did its routine roadside plant destruction. One half of the dozen transplanted plants are growing well with little effort but watering. Looking forward to a crop of fruit next year. I???ve been totally Jazzed about this plant, so I???m excited to find that you chose it to highlight! Thanks!

Sent by Paul Wentland, M.D. | 11:41 PM ET | 09-07-2007

We have a sister variety ALL over our small pasture here in Chattanooga, TN. Transplanted a couple of the vines to cover a small arbor near the house. LOVE the beautiful flower and the greenery that lasts till late fall.

Sent by Wallace & Nancy Braud | 10:35 AM ET | 09-08-2007

I first saw this amazing plant in the gardens of Schloss Charlottenburg in Berlin~the gardens there are a great example of German orderliness and beauty.

Sent by Angie | 12:20 PM ET | 09-08-2007

When I lived on Capitol Hill a South American passiflora (not this species, because it had some white in the flower)turned my tiny stark patio into a beautiful bright jungle. In one summer it grew all the way around my privacy fence and then 25 feet up the neighbors back stairs. And it was only planted in a 2 gallon pot. Winter freezes killed it, but I can't wait to try again!

Sent by Christine4nier | 2:56 PM ET | 09-08-2007

My final answer: It is a Passiflora incarnata, aka, the Purple Passion Flower.

Sent by Stephen Fey | 7:58 PM ET | 09-08-2007

We call it a Passion Flower. We planted two purple and one white next to a fence to help create a screen from our neighbor's yard. They grow fast and are beautiful!

Sent by Talia | 9:28 PM ET | 09-08-2007

This looks like a passion flower. They are growing wild right now in the fields around my house in North Georgia.

Sent by Ryan Dixon | 9:38 PM ET | 09-08-2007

I knew it as Maracuya in Colombia, South America where I grew up. The flower was the passion flower and the fruit was maracuya or jugo de maracuya.. maracuya juice! it is delicious and I found some in Costco from Brazil! It is the same taste, plus my partner and I just went to Maui and drank POG there and then I remembered that POG was popular in Santa Barbara, California too, since you can buy it at most of the Albertson's and Von's markets in the juice area of the coolers. As mentioned above POG stands for passion fruit juice (maracuya), orange juice and guava juice. Incidentally, Costco sells a variety pack of juices from Brazil that include Passionfruit, Guava and Mango! They are all delicious! For tropical exotic fruit and their juices I recommend guanabana and lulu! Lulu juice is the best juice I have ever tasted! Some Colombian bakeries here in Charlotte, NC have juice bars and one can buy it from them. But the best Lulu juice is when the fruit is picked off the bush and squeezed. Some people blend it with sugar, ice and water immediately. It is indescridable! I would recommend taking pictures of these fruits and/or their flowers and see if people can guess what they are. The last fruit I will mention is "jungle ice-cream". Besides guanabana it is my favorite fruit of the tropics and I have longed for it since leaving Colombia in 1979. If anyone knows where to get this fruit please let me know. It is a long pod that you twist to open and reveal its white, cottony fruit covering it's smooth yellow orange bilobar seed. I would do anything to be able to grow this plant here in the US and eat it's delicious, exotic fruit again.

Kelly

Sent by Kelly Svedberg | 10:24 PM ET | 09-08-2007

It is the passion flower, which grows the passion fruit.

Sent by Anonymous | 12:23 PM ET | 09-09-2007

At first I thought this was just a nice looking weed, but after lookin at it more I think I will look for it here locally. Nice work

Sent by Johny Linan | 1:47 PM ET | 09-09-2007

This most unusual flower also has a most unusual scent that most resembles that of artificially flavored grape candy. At least that is what a group of guests at a coffee shop patio in Memphis came up with last summer after admiring this wonder of nature and discussing its perfume.

Sent by Sonja | 2:00 PM ET | 09-09-2007

The passion fruit vine in my Fresno yard is very similar. So it should do fine in Tejon if you put it in a moist spot- like where the AC condensate drips out. I am propagating it by burying a couple inches of shoot in a pot of soil. I don't know the species, but I got it at Trader joe's grocery

Sent by Cindy | 3:43 PM ET | 09-09-2007

I think it looks very like the granadilla flower or as others might call it, the passion fruit flower

Sent by Alan Egner | 8:25 AM ET | 09-10-2007

This flower is magnificent. What's more, it takes me back to a very happy time in my life, when my mother and siblings and I all went to live in the South of France. We (literally) traded houses with a French family--they went to live in our not quite so glamorous house in Connecticut. Their villa in France had a small cottage house that was covered in these passion flower vines and flowers, and it was the first time I saw them. I can still close my eyes and see the cottage house, with glinting specks of bright purple, overlooking the sunflower and wheat fields....

Sent by Kendra | 8:46 AM ET | 09-10-2007

I believe this, or a relative, grows on the fence surrounding our school's Kindergarten playground. Everyone calls it "Monkey Brain," probably because of the orange-red slimy interior of the fruit. The kids are forbidden to pick them, as shirts inevitably get stained.

Sent by Denise Acomb San Jose, CA | 8:50 AM ET | 09-10-2007

Hi,
I think this plant is called ' Incense'.It is a hybrid of incarnata x something else.

Sent by Amanda | 10:16 AM ET | 09-28-2007

Passion flower vine is like bamboo. Everyone wants it until they get it! Very invasive. At least in Savannah, Georgia. I host a plant swap twice a year and even with warnings people take cuttings. If I left my garden untended the passion vine and the cypress vine would take over. But beautiful it - and the cypress vine - are.

Sent by Jane Fishman | 8:25 PM ET | 10-09-2007

Ha! Jane, I was at your autumn plant swap a couple of weeks ago - I admired your passionflower that is almost everywhere in your garden, snickering to myself as I thought about this post. Although I would love some of your passionflower - a different variety than mine that I keep contained in pots in my garden - I thought better of it. Of course, I left your plant swap with some ferns and elephant ears (and a pregnant onion?) that we both know will be "pests" in no time flat. I'll just grow them until they are happy and bring them back to the swap. You've got a great thing going - your garden is fun, full of exciting stuff, and I sometimes find myself hanging out there even when others aren't giving their plants away. Your swap is great fun and a fantastic place to pick up/donate your extra plants - don't change a thing under the bridge! :)

Jesse

Sent by Jesse Lazzuri | 9:35 PM ET | 10-17-2007

Jesse, So you passed up the passionflower at the last plant swap! Good for you! I'd love a snippet of yours, the one you keep in a pot. Will I regret it if I put it in at Boundary Street? Will that keep me from putting it in? No! Jane/

Sent by Jane Fishman | 3:41 PM ET | 11-01-2007

hey guys i found this flower in my grandmas garden. i lve in south texas. i thought it was from somewhere else.

its like wicked

KETZEL ASKS: WHAT FLOWER?

Sent by eva | 5:47 PM ET | 06-26-2008

hey, jesse, been thinking about passion flower lately and i reread your comment. come to the oct. 4 plant swap. same place, under the bridge. savannah. jane fishman

Sent by jane fishman | 10:29 PM ET | 09-09-2008