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Passiflora incarnata

Common name:	Maypops	Family:	Passifloraceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	43, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America - Virginia and Kentucky, south to Florida and Texas.
Habitat:	Sandy thickets and open soils[43]. Fields, roadsides, fence rows and thickets[192].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Carkifelek [E], Charkhi Felek [E], Maypop [S,H,E], Maypop Passionflower [E], Passion Flower [S], Passionflower [H], Purple Passion-flower [B], Purple Passionflower [P], Saa'T Gulu [E], Ward Assa'Ah [E], Zahril Aalaam [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	flora = flowered incarnata = flesh pink
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Violales. Passion-flower family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Bermuda Iraq Turkey Us Us(Appalachia)
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen climber growing to 6m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 6 and is frost tender. It is in leaf all year, in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from September to November. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, By Walls, By South Wall, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

Flowers Fruit Leaves.

Fruit - raw or cooked in jellies, jams etc[2, 3, 21, 46, 61]183]. A sweet flavour[4], it is best when used as a jelly[95]. High in niacin[160]. Fairly large, the fruit is up to 5cm in diameter[200] though it contains relatively little edible pulp and a lot of seeds[K].
Leaves - raw or cooked. Said to be delicious as a cooked vegetable or when eaten in salads[183].
Flowers - cooked as a vegetable or made into syrup[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antispasmodic Astringent Diaphoretic Homeopathy Hypnotic Narcotic Sedative Vasodilator Women's complaints.

Maypops is a valuable sedative and tranquillising herb with a long history of use in North America[254]. It is frequently used in the treatment of insomnia, epilepsy, hysteria etc[254].
The leaves and stems are antispasmodic, astringent, diaphoretic, hypnotic, narcotic, sedative, vasodilator and are also used in the treatment of women's complaints[4, 7, 21, 46, 61, 165, 192, 207, 238]. The plant is harvested after some of the berries have matured and is then dried for later use[4]. It is used in the treatment of insomnia, nervous tension, irritability, neuralgia, irritable bowel syndrome, pre-menstrual tension and vaginal discharges[4, 21, 165, 192, 207]. An extract of the plant depresses the motor nerves of the spinal cord[213], it is also slightly sedative, slightly reduces blood pressure and increases respiratory rate[222]. The plant contains alkaloids and flavonoids that are an effective non-addictive sedative that does not cause drowsiness[238]. The plant is not recommended for use during pregnancy[238].
A poultice of the roots is applied to boils, cuts, earaches, inflammation etc[222].
The dried plant is exported from America to Europe for medicinal usage[207].
A homeopathic remedy is made from the plant[4].

We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Requires a well-drained soil with plenty of moisture in the growing season, otherwise it is not fussy[1]. Another report says that it prefers a well-drained sandy slightly acid soil in full sun[238].
In a well-drained soil the roots are hardy to about -20° c, although top growth is killed back by frost[160, 200]. The top growth is cut back almost to the ground each year by some people and the plant treated as a herbaceous perennial[88]. The roots should be mulched in winter to prevent them from freezing. Plants thrive in a short growing season[160].
A climbing plant, supporting itself by means of tendrils[222].
Resistant to pests and diseases[160]. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].
Cultivated for its edible fruit by the North American Indians[2, 46]. Plants yield from 5 to 20 fruits annually in the wild[160].
Outdoor grown plants should have their roots restricted in order to encourage fruit production instead of excessive vegetative growth[1]. Hand pollinate using pollen from a flower that has been open for 12 hours to pollinate a newly opened flower before midday[88].

Propagation

Pre-soak the seed for 12 hours in warm water and then sow late winter or early spring in a warm greenhouse. If sown in January and grown on fast it can flower and fruit in its first year[88]. The seed germinates in 1 - 12 months at 20° c. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. It you are intending to grow the plants outdoors, it is probably best to keep them in the greenhouse for their first winter and plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Mulch the roots well in late autumn to protect them from the cold.
Cuttings of young shoots, 15cm with a heel, in spring[1].
Leaf bud cuttings in spring.
Cuttings of fully mature wood in early summer. Takes 3 months. High percentage[3].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[R] Rainforest medicinal Data (common names, medicinal uses, images) from the Rain-Tree.
[R] Rainforest medicinal Data (common names, medicinal uses, images) from the Rain-Tree.

References for the family Passifloraceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[3] Simmons. A. E. Growing Unusual Fruit. David and Charles 1972 ISBN 0-7153-5531-7
A very readable book with information on about 100 species that can be grown in Britain (some in greenhouses) and details on how to grow and use them.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[88] RHS. The Garden. Volume 112. Royal Horticultural Society 1987
Snippets of information from the magazine of the RHS. In particular, there are articles on plants that are resistant to honey fungus, oriental vegetables, Cimicifuga spp, Passiflora species and Cucurbits.

[95] Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976 ISBN 0-486-23310-3
Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.

[160] Natural Food Institute, Wonder Crops. 1987.
Fascinating reading, this is an annual publication. Some reports do seem somewhat exaggerated though.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[192] Emboden. W. Narcotic Plants Studio Vista 1979 ISBN 0-289-70864-8
A lot of details about the history, chemistry and use of narcotic plants, including hallucinogens, stimulants, inebriants and hypnotics.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

Readers Comments

Passiflora species

Rich (michael@thewitchshaven.com) Wed Oct 10 12:38:19 2001

1. Passiflora, the host plants of Heliconius butterflies contains:

a. toxic alkaloids (strychnine, caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, and morphine are all alkaloids which we extract from plants for pharmaceutical, recreational and agricultural uses. Nicotine sulfate is a potent pesticide) and

b. cyanogenic glycosides (These compounds are essentially sugars attached to a CN or cyanide group . As glycosides, these compounds are non-toxic and contained in an intracellular compartment. A specific glycosidase enzyme resides in a separate compartment. When a herbivore munches on green tissues of a passion vine, the enzyme is brought into contact with the glycoside and cyanide is released.

Information from

Link: Texas University Lecture Notes

Cross references: Plants: Passiflora species. Genera: Passiflora.

Passiflora species

Rich (michael@thewitchshaven.com) Wed Oct 10 12:48:05 2001

The above comment seems to refer to the leaves and not the flowers. Anyone know more on this subject?

Cheers to Linda King (tlady@clara.co.uk) for this info

Another link is

Link: University of Texas newsletter

Cross references: Plants: Passiflora species. Genera: Passiflora.

Passiflora incarnata

Rita Pugh (rpugh@mccracken.k12.ky.us) Sat Nov 30 15:51:40 2002

I planted passiflora incarnata L. seeds this spring. They grew into 2-3 foot vines. However, they did not bloom. Why? Thanks for your help.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.