Passiflora echinasteris | The Italian Collection of Maurizio Vecchia

DESCRIPTION:

The Passiflora echinasteris is one of the most remarkable discoveries within the genus and has been assigned to the Serratifoliae Series, established by Armando Cervi as an addition to the taxonomy of MacDougal and other scholars. It stands out not only for its rarity in the Amazon rainforest, but also for the highly unusual appearance of its flowers, which evoke marine imagery.

The species was described in 2015 from specimens collected along the great loop of the Xingu River, in areas of secondary vegetation that developed after major environmental changes in the region. It is a glabrous passionflower with green, waxy stems. From a taxonomic point of view it is related to Passiflora malacophylla, from which it can be readily distinguished. Passiflora malacophylla is much more hairy and has a corona composed of several series of filaments, whereas in Passiflora echinasteris the series are only two.

The flower displays five thickened and fleshy filaments in the second series of the corona, formed by the fusion of several regular filaments. Their arrangement clearly recalls the arms of a starfish of the genus Echinaster, and it is from this resemblance that the name of the species is derived.

The flower is surrounded by large green bracts, broad and leaf like, which extend beyond the corolla and form a very developed outer envelope. Inside, the petals and sepals are pale, of a light green tending towards yellow, and remain spread without curving backwards. At the centre, the corona is organised on two distinct levels. In the second series emerge the five thickened filaments, pale in colour with red purple bands distributed at intervals, while in the first series there are thinner filaments, slightly curved and also crossed by red purple bands.

The plant bears simple, unlobed leaves with denticulate margins and a completely glabrous surface. The fruits are spherical and waxy, green turning to yellow at maturity, with a whitish pulp of sweet flavour that the authors vaguely compare to that of mango.

In nature Passiflora echinasteris grows climbing or lying among grasses and small shrubs in open and dry areas close to the river. It is an extremely rare species, still poorly known, and the authors of the description themselves classify it as “data deficient”, indicating the scarcity of available information and the need for further study of its true distribution. Seeds collected in the wild showed rapid germination, with plants capable of producing their first buds in less than three months and flowering for over a year under experimental cultivation. This species is not present in European collections.

The Passiflora echinasteris represents a rare and striking example of the ability of passionflowers to develop highly unusual floral structures. The corona with its five thickened filaments recalls the form of starfish of the genus Echinaster, a morphological detail that gives this species a unique character and brings its portrait to a close with an image that unites the plant world with the marine world.

Image by João Batista, with the kind cooperation of André L. R. Cardoso ©