Passiflora pinnatistipula | The Italian Collection of Maurizio Vecchia

Passiflora pinnatistipula, information, classification, temperatures. etymology of Passiflora pinnatistipula. Discover the Italian Passiflora Collection by Maurizio Vecchia.

Passiflora pinnatistipula | The Italian Collection of Maurizio Vecchia

Systematics (J. Macdougal et al., 2004)

SUBGENUS: passiflora
SUPERSECTION: tacsonia
SECTION: insignes


GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OR ORIGIN:

Bolivia, Colombia, Cile, f rom 2,000 to 4,000 m of altitude.


MINIMUM TEMPERATURE: 2 °C


IDEAL MINIMUM TEMPERATURE: 5 °C


SYNONYMS:

P. chilensis Miers, P. pennipes J. E. Sm.


ETYMOLOGY:

From winged stipules (Lat. pinnatus, winged, feathered).


PHOTOGALLERY:


DESCRIPTION:

The pendulous flower, with the typical shape of passionflowers belonging to supersection Tacsonia, has a strikingly intense and brilliant cyclamen colour. In the summer, the plant is so full of cyclamen it becomes a spectacular spot. It is hardy and easy to cultivate.

In winter, it tolerates prolonged periods at an average temperature of 2°C and will tolerate fleeting frosts without problems.

Italy, therefore, has many climatic zones suitable for it: Liguria and the Centre-South, but also the coastal areas of some of Lombardy's lakes, such as Lake Maggiore and Lake Garda. However, it does not like locations that are too sunny and hot, as it is a mountain passionflower that lives at altitudes of 2500 to 3800 m in the Andes, from Colombia to Peru. It is, therefore, necessary, in the central hours of the day, to place it in shady and cool corners.

The trilobate leaves, about 10 cm long and about 12 cm wide, have lanceolate-sharp lobes. The lateral ones are positioned almost perpendicular to the central one. The leaf blade is robust, a little leathery, with a wrinkled surface.

The flowers reach 9-10 cm in diameter, have a tubular calyx of about 5 cm in length and about 1 cm in diameter. The corolla is composed of narrow, elongated sepals and petals, oblong in shape and coloured a beautiful red-fuchsia. The corona, small and short, is dark blue and purple. From the middle of it protrudes a long androgynophore.

The fruits, yellow when ripe and edible, have a shape similar to that of a banana.

Propagation is easy from cuttings and seeds.