TOUT SAVOIR SUR LA FLEUR DE LA PASSION (PASSIFLORE) : BOTANIQUE, HISTOIRE DU NOM, PARTICULARITÉS

NewsJardinTV editor-in-chief Patrick Mioulane invites you today to discover all the astonishing characteristics of the blue passionflower (Passiflora caerulea). It is the hardiest of the approximately 530 species of this climbing plant native to tropical America. This species withstands the climate of the Île-de-France region in a well-exposed and sheltered location. After discussing the origin of the name Passiflora and the Passifloraceae family, as well as the botanists who created them, our favorite gardener explains in great detail the reasons why the plant is called "passion flower." The Jesuit priests who accompanied the conquistadors in their exploration of South America saw in the plant's organs all the symbolic elements of the Passion of Christ. The three pistils are shaped like nails, evoking the crucifixion. As for the five stamens, they strangely resemble hammers that would have driven these nails. The passion flower is characterized by the presence of a crown of colored filaments reminiscent of the famous crown of thorns. The leaves are accompanied by a tendril reminiscent of a whip, and their leaflets are elongated like the spearhead of the centurion Sanctus Longinus, who supposedly pierced Jesus' body after he died on the cross. As for the sepals and petals of the same color that adorn the base of the flower, there are ten of them (like those of the apostles from whom Judas the traitor and Saint Thomas the doubter were supposedly removed). Patrick then shows you how to easily identify the petals from the petaloid sepals (tepals), the latter being equipped at their tips with a small, pointed or hook-shaped outgrowth. Our botany enthusiast then presents the ovary, which, after fertilization through a pollinating insect, will form the edible fruit (the passion fruit of Passiflora edulis), whose fragrant and tangy flavor is adored. A large twining vine whose slender stems can measure over 4 meters long, the blue passion flower clings to its support using tendrils. Patrick demonstrates that each growing point (a node) bears a leaf, a tendril, and a flower. The passion flower blooms little by little along the stem, producing a bloom that is not very dense, certainly, but constantly renewed throughout the summer. This is a very interesting video for its educational aspect, which precisely and explicitly shows all the details of one of the most magnificent and strangest flowers in the plant world.