Passiflora cinnabarina explained

Passiflora cinnabarina, commonly known as red passionflower,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Passifloraceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a climber or scrambler with three-lobed leaves and red flowers.

Description

Passiflora cinnabarina is a glabrous climber or scrambler with slender stems up to long and with simple tendrils in the leaf axils. The leaves are up to long and wide with three lobes, on a petiole long with narrow lance-shaped stipules long at the base. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils and are in diameter on a pedicel long with three thread-like bracts at the base. The sepals are long and keeled, red on the inside and green outside. The petals are red, long and the corona consists of two rings of filaments, the outer ring yellow and long and the inner series whitish and usually long. The gynophore is long and there are five stamens and three styles. Flowering occurs from September to January and the fruit is a green berry.[2] [3] [4]

Taxonomy

Passiflora cinnibarina was first formally described in 1855 by John Lindley in The Gardeners' Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette from plants grown from seed collected by "Lieut.-Colonel Sir Thomas Mitchell".[5] [6] The specific epithet (cinnibarina) is a Latin words meaning vermilion.[7]

Distribution and habitat

Red passionflower grows along rivers in rainforest and forest, often in rocky sites and occurs from northern New South Wales, along the coast and ranges through the Australian Capital Territory to eastern Victoria. It has also become naturalised in a few sites in Tasmania.[8]

Ecology

The seeds of P. cinnabarina are spread by birds and possibly mammals and the plant has become an environmental weed in Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand.[9]

Use in horticulture

This climber can be propagated from seed or from cuttings and can be grown in full sun to semi shade. It is relatively frost-tolerant but requires moist soil.[10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Harden . Gwen J. . Passiflora cinnabarina . Royal Botanic Garden Sydney . 2 October 2021.
  2. Web site: Stajsic . Val . Passiflora cinnibarina . Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria . 2 October 2021.
  3. Web site: Ohlsen . Daniel J. . Kodela . Phillip G. (ed.) . Passiflora cinnabarina . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 2 October 2021.
  4. Web site: Passiflora cinnabarina . Weeds of Australia . 2 October 2021.
  5. Web site: Passiflora cinnabarina. APNI. 2 October 2021.
  6. Lindley . John . New Plants . The Gardeners' Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette . 1855 . 724 . 2 October 2021.
  7. Book: . Botanical Latin. History, grammar, syntax, terminology and vocabulary . 1992 . Timber Press . Portland, Oregon . 4th. 385.
  8. Web site: Jordan . Greg . Passiflora cinnabarina . University of Tasmania . 2 October 2021.
  9. Web site: Red passionflower (Passiflora cinnabarina) . Tamar Valley Weed Strategy Working Group . 2 October 2021.
  10. Web site: Passiflora cinnabarina . Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) . 2 October 2021.