Also called Bluecrown passionflower, Blue Passionflower, Brazilian Passionflower, Passion Flower, Blue Passionfruit, Blue Crown Passionflower, Common Granadilla
A vigorous tendril-climbing vine from South America, grown for its fragrant blue-white flowers and orange fruit. It needs a sheltered spot and regular control, as it can spread aggressively.
Family
Passifloraceae (Passion-flower family)
Grows as
Climber
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water regularly during growth and let the top of the soil dry slightly between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained, fertile loam or general potting mix.
Temperature
Comfortable around 15–30 °C; hardy to about −10 °C, so give a sheltered south or west facing position in cold areas.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Mildly toxic: Leaves contain cyanogenic glycosides that can release hydrogen cyanide; boiling drives off most of it, and the unripe fruit should be avoided.
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
Bolivia to Brazil and N. Argentina
Climate
subtropical
About
Passiflora caerulea, the blue passionflower, bluecrown passionflower or common passion flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Passifloraceae. It is native to South America and has been introduced elsewhere.
It forms a vigorous, deciduous or semi-evergreen tendril-bearing vine growing to 10 m (33 ft) or more. Its leaves are palmately lobed, and its fragrant flowers are blue-white with a prominent fringe of coronal filaments in bands of blue, white, yellow, and brown. The ovoid orange fruit grows to 6 cm (2 in) across.
How to grow it
Passiflora caerulea is widely cultivated as a wall-climber or as groundcover. It is a hardy species, able to survive winter temperatures as low as −10 °C (14 °F), although it requires a sheltered position facing south or west (in the Northern Hemisphere). It can become invasive, the twining shoots constantly appearing unless eradicated. It is the only Passiflora species that volunteers in California. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Uses
The fruit is edible to humans when ripe, but its flavour has been described as bland, undesirable or insipid. If allowed to fully ripen in a warm climate and fall naturally from the vine, it has a mild blackberry flavour, though with a lower sugar content than commonly eaten species.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Passiflora caerulea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.