Passiflora eichleriana | The Italian Collection of Maurizio Vecchia

DESCRIPTION:

The epithet eichleriana is a tribute to the German botanist August Wilhelm Eichler, born in 1839 in Neukirchen in Hesse and deceased in 1887 in Berlin. Eichler was a pioneer of plant taxonomy. He developed a classification system that anticipated evolutionary concepts, distinguishing between plants without flowers and flowering plants, and separating the angiosperms from the gymnosperms. Dedicating this species to him acknowledges his contribution to botany and to the systematic framework that has made it possible to understand complex genera such as the genus Passiflora.

In European collections this species is found in two forms. One has completely white flowers, while the other has a white corona enriched by a blue ring of variable intensity. The second form is commonly referred to by collectors as Passiflora eichleriana ‘Mauro Peixoto’, since it appears to have been this plant hunter, still active today and whom I had the chance to meet in Mogi das Cruzes, who first identified and distributed it.

Using pollen from Passiflora caerulea ‘Constance Eliott’, in 2007 I obtained a white hybrid that became fairly widespread and highly appreciated. The influence of Passiflora eichleriana becomes evident under certain climatic conditions, when a faint blue ring appears on the corona, revealing their kinship.

Passiflora eichleriana has been recorded in several states of central southern and southern Brazil, including Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. Its distribution also extends into Paraguay, where it grows in similar environments.

The biomes in which it occurs are mainly the Cerrado and the Mata Atlântica, two vast regions characterised by a remarkable variety of humid habitats and by a subtropical climate with hot summers and mild winters.

Its habitat includes forest margins, woodland edges and areas of secondary vegetation, meaning zones where the forest is regenerating after a natural or human disturbance. These are brighter environments than mature forest, with well drained soils that are nevertheless able to retain sufficient moisture, and where occasional frosts may occur.

Altitude records from botanical collections indicate that the species is found both at low elevations and in hilly or mountainous zones, provided that the humidity and climatic conditions typical of its biomes are maintained.

The completely white form of Passiflora eichleriana has a restrained and luminous appearance, with pale petals and a corona of uniform colour that maintains the same bright tone from the outer filaments to the inner ones. The overall pattern is regular and highlights the purity of the flower’s structure. This continuity is slightly interrupted by the sepals, which show a very pale green tinge even on the inner surface, almost like a transparency of the keeled back. The terminal awns are elongated and clearly visible.

The second form, known as ‘Mauro Peixoto’, shows a sharper contrast due to the presence of a blue ring precisely positioned halfway along the main corona, creating a dynamic effect. The flower’s structure remains the same, but the chromatic variation changes the perception of the whole, adding colour, depth and movement to the corona.

This species is very common in collections and is unlikely to be absent wherever passion flowers are grown. It has a permanent place in mine as well, since it blooms freely, adapts easily and is straightforward to cultivate.

It remains, however, a plant that needs winter protection in northern Italy. With suitable shelter it can be grown outdoors in central regions of the peninsula and, in southern areas, it grows without particular difficulty.