Passiflora Ruby Glow. Passion Flower

by Venetia Featherstone-Witty

Title

Passiflora Ruby Glow. Passion Flower

Artist

Venetia Featherstone-Witty

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

The passion flower has a unique structure that catches your eye and reminds us of brilliant fireworks.
Passiflora alata 'Ruby Glow' (Passion Vine) - This South American vine explodes with bloom in the fall. Its flowers are huge - 5" across - an intense dark maroon, and give off an hypnotic nutmeg-musky scent. It has rounded , thick, leathery rich green leaves. 'Ruby Glow' can produce fruit if cross-pollinated. It loves the sun, but can take some shade, flourishing with average watering. It can frost down, but resprouts quickly. This plant has been grown for many years as Passiflora alata 'Ruby Glow' but has more recently been identified as a species, Passiflora phoenicea, a close relative to P. alata that grows naturally in eastern Peru. It is one parent with Passiflora quadrangularis of the excellent hybrid cultivar 'Purple Tiger' which has foliage that is paler and flowers that are larger than and as fragrant as 'Ruby Glow' but flowers much more often.

This vine will eventually produce the powerfully strong tasting passionfruit. The passionfruit is used in drinks, pies, and jams, usually tapered with good amounts of sugar. Although not originally from Hawaii, passionfruit plants now line the highways and hillsides on most of the islands. Once ripe, uncultivated plants drop their fruit to the roadside, creating an pungent aroma for anyone within a ten yard radius.

Passiflora has a largely neotropic distribution, unlike its family Passifloraceae, which includes more Old World species (such as the genus Adenia). The vast majority of Passiflora are found in Mexico, Central and South America, although there are additional representatives in the United States, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. New species continue to be identified: for example, P. xishuangbannaensis and P. pardifolia have only been known to the scientific community since 2005 and 2006, respectively.

Some species of Passiflora have been naturalised beyond their native ranges. For example, the blue passion flower (P. caerulea) now grows wild in Spain The purple passionfruit (P. edulis) and its yellow relative flavicarpa have been introduced in many tropical regions as commercial crops.

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April 11th, 2018

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