Description
The Passion Flowers are so named
from the supposed resemblance
of the finely-cut corona in the centre
of the blossoms to the Crown of Thorns
and of the other parts of the flower
to the instruments
of the Passion of Our Lord.
Passiflora incarnata has a perennial root,
and the herbaceous shoots bear three-lobed,
finelyserrated leaves and flesh-coloured
or yellowish, sweet-scented flowers,
tinged with purple.
The ripe, orange-colored, ovoid,
many-seeded berry is about
the size of a small apple;
when dried,
it is shrivelled and greenish-yellow.
The yellow pulp is sweet and edible.