Greenhouse Growth

Well, the greenhouse that I built with my father this Summer is doing the job so far. In fact, Passiflora cirrhiflora is thriving better now than it did outside. It clearly likes the heat provided by the sun and a trash can full of water with a submersible aquarium heater inside and the humidity from a misting stand that emits daily. Of course there are other species and hybrids in the greenhouse from cuttings and seed alike, but the growth on P. cirrhiflora is extravagant. I should be seeing lots of fully form flowers by the end of 2013!

New Nigradenia

I recently received an online auction Passiflora nigradenia. The plant came really fast through the mail, and when I opened the box I was surprised to find a blooming plant. I've never had a blooming Passiflora come through the mail, so this was a very nice and sweet-smelling surprise. It came in a tiny little pot that rapidly dried out so I up-potted it shortly after relocating it to the greenhouse. I'm excited to see what this one can do when the next growing season rolls around.

Bloody Cherry Tart

Passiflora Cherry Tart (cupraea x (P. yucatanensis and P. biflora)) has been growing slowly in the side yard. It was a bonus to an online auction, and I didn't have any plans for it, so for now it's growing on a little trellis between my yard and the neighbors'. Much to my surprise, though many of the established plants have slowed their blooming this late into October, this little guy decided to start budding. I thought for sure they would abort, but no, today there was a little crimson bloom! Halloween is just around the corner, so this little blood red tart has good timing.

New Nephrodes

Awhile back I planted P. nephrodes with P. x exoniensis. P. exoniensis exploded with growth, and basically choked out P. nephrodes. Before it could die, I decided to pull it out of the pot. Despite some root damage and being little more than a stick, it did come back from almost certain death inside my new and custom greenhouse. Today, one of the buds that has slowly been forming bloomed. It's the first time that this little pink flower has emerged from my plant. It's a dainty little thing.

South Coast Botanic Garden: Part 2 - Green House and Beyond

Besides some dubious name plates on the decaloba subgenus of Passiflora specimens, the green house was fun. The vines were climbing all over the trusses, and the carnivorous plants were hanging everywhere. The Passiflora were so vigorous about getting to the light that they had actually penetrated the air conditioner and were thriving on the other side.

Beyond the greenhouse is where I found P. caerulea growing in and through its neighbors. Consequently, when the hedges and boughs were recently trimmed, P. caerulea was cut back pretty severely. Despite that, there were some low hanging literal fruit and all signs said that come next Spring there would be plenty of flowers to see. 

South Coast Botanic Garden: Part 1 - Passiflora Misidentified

I went to the South Coast Botanic Garden today as a late birthday adventure. I had been traveling for work for two weeks back-to-back, and since it was both a beautiful day and a day that I could stay away from the office, I decided that it would be fun to traipse around there even if most of the plants weren't in bloom. Chiefly I had seen a P. caerulea picture on Yelp, so I knew there was some hunting to do. There was also a greenhouse that I discovered once there that housed several bromelias, pitcher plants, and many Passiflora especially subgenus decaloba. Many were not in bloom, but it was still fun to play "Where's Waldo". Their name plates (reproduced faithfully) were as follows:

P. Lavendar Lady
P. White Wedding
Gynura aurantiaca 'Purple Passion Vine'
P. hahnii  (=P. guatemalensis)
P. tricuspis
P. lancearia (=P. talamancensis)
P. apetala

Having seen that a couple of the species shared names, and not being as familiar with the decalobas, I returned home to investigate. It turns out that P. hahnii and P. guatemalensis are often confused, but I think I've found the answer.

"P. guatemalensis, common from Mexico to Venezuela, looks very similar to P. hahnii. For a long time they were thought to be one and the same species, and Killip (1938) erroneously mentioned P. guatemalensis as a synonym for P. hahnii. It be distinguished from P. hahnii by its stipules and shorter peduncles, and by the usual lack of extrafloral nectaries at the base of the leaf blade. While in P. guatemalensis the toothed stipules end in filiform appendages, in P. hahnii these are reduced to tiny teeth at most, or a single central tooth. John Vanderplank (1996a) points out that the flowers of P. hahnii appear singly, while in P. guatemalensis they mainly appear in pairs. This is generally true by not as dependable as the structure of the stipule." - MacDougal and Ulmer 2004

Based on the above description of the stipules and this photo, I believe the specimen in the South Coast Botanic Garden to be P. guatemalensis; not P. hahnii.

On to the next odd pair. I've found that P. lancearia is nothing like P. talamancensis, which is a difficult species for which to find information. It does however have almost identical leaves to P. helleri. So, now I have a three-way puzzle to solve. For which, I do not have an answer. Any advice is appreciated.

Another species to check would be P. tricuspis, which is commonly the misidentified P. trifasciata. Again, MacDougal land Ulmer write:

"Occasionally, one comes across a plant cultivated under the name Passiflora tricuspis that is actually P. trifasciata. These sister species can be distinguished by their leaves, though some specimens are more difficult to classify than others. In P. tricuspis, the 2 outer lobes are usually noticeably longer than the middle one."

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture in which to compare the lobes. I did get the contact information for the individual in charge of the greenhouse, so I'll be giving her a call to discuss some of these discrepancies. 

Obviously, Gynura aurantiaca 'Purple Passion Vine' is not a passion vine at all. I don't even know what to make of this, but I hope to get clarification soon.

By the way, I did find P. caerulea when I saw a immature split open fruit on the ground. Upon inspection I found the source to be a rather large vine that had been recently cut back with its surroundings. I'll have to go back sometime later to see it in bloom.

Gulf Fritillary

Before a flock of pigeons flew over and noticeably scared her, there was a gulf fritillary butterfly laying her eggs on my Passiflora. I wonder what she thought when she encountered my collection...perhaps something along the lines of, "Jackpot!" I stood with a camera watching her for 10 minutes or so trying to capture the moment when she stuck her egg to the leaves of my plants. I wasn't as lucky as I hoped, but I did capture a few shots of her and the evidence she left behind.