Passiflora lutea L.

Yellow Passion Flower

Vine

Perennial

Vascular

Yellow Passion Flower is a native perennial herbaceous vine in the Passion-Flower family (Passifloraceae). It can be found statewide in Alabama. Yellow Passion Flower occurs on roadsides, in forest clearings, and in waste areas, usually on moist sites. It is a perennial forming an extensive system of rhizomes. The above ground stems are glabrous or sparsely hairy herbaceous vines climbing by tendrils. The stems are green in color and range in length from 8-20 feet. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, three lobed, and glabrous or minutely pubescent. They often turn bright yellow in the autumn. The small pale greenish-yellow flowers are solitary or in pairs from the leaf axils. They have a distinctive corona (crown) of pale yellowish or greenish filaments. The fruit of Yellow Passion Flower is a fleshy berry that turns purple-black as it ripens. It has been used to produce a purple dye. The fruit contains many seed, each surrounded by a fluid filled sac. Yellow Passion Flower vines are larval food plants for several species of butterflies, and the fruit are eaten by birds and small mammals. It is deer resistant. Yellow Passion Flowers require full to partial sun for best growth. They do well in average soil and moisture conditions. Support should be provided for them to climb on. Plants can be grown from seed or rooted from cuttings. It can be used in pollinator and butterfly gardens, on fences or trellises, and is happy in containers.—A. Diamond.

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Native

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