Photo by Jess Cole.
Yellow passionvine.
We all know our native purple passionvine/maypop, but this tiny relative often goes unseen. Less dramatic in size and color, this passionvine still boasts the typical extravagant and complex flower passifloras are known for, yet at about the size of a nickel. Something about the intensity in such a petite package is absolutely incredible. Yellow passionvine is not commercially available, yet grows abundantly all over the state. I find it most often at the edges of woods, basking in the filtered shade. I have had great success growing by root division and transplanting directly into my formal gardens to grow along my hogwire fencing. This they do beautifully, returning and spreading each year.
Like all other passifloras, this one is host to the gulf fritillary butterfly. When you see the burnt orange caterpillars feasting on the leaves, consider yourself blessed for their presence; an abundance of butterflies will swarm your space shortly.
