Passiflora caerulea L., Passifloraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: blue passion flower, palikea

Habit:  vine

Description:  "Plant glabrous and often glaucus throughout; stipules semi-ovate; petioles 2-6-glandular, the glands stipitate; blades palmately 5 (rarely 3, 7 or 9)-lobed nearly to the base, the lobes linear-oblong to broadly ovate-oblong, up to 10 cm long, usually obtuse, entire; bracts broadly ovate, 1.5-2.5 cm long, borne close to the flower base; flowers up to 10 cm wide, white or pinkish; calyx tube cup-shaped, the sepals and petals oblong; corona filaments in 4 series, those of the 2 outer radiate, from a half to as long as the petals, blue at the apex, white at the middle, purple at the base, the inner filaments much shorter; operculum filamentose part way; fruit ovoid or subglobose, about 4 cm in diameter, seeds coarsely reticulate."  (Macbride, 1941; p. (4/1):101)

Habitat/ecology:  "In New Zealand, coastal areas, lowland and coastal shrublands and forest margins, light gaps, roadsides, wastelands, farm and orchard hedges, domestic gardens. Prefers forest and shrubland margins and fertile soil. Known to enter and fill forest light gaps, and perceived to be capable of causing damage by smothering plants. It is a climbing plant able to reach the tree canopy and cover a large area."  (Weeds in New Zealand web site)

Propagation:  Seed. Fruits eaten and spread by animals and birds.

Native range:  East-central Brazil to Argentina, widely cultivated.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 93)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1010) Cultivated and persists.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1010) Cultivated and persists.
Tonga Vava‘u Group	Vava‘u Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1978) (voucher ID: BISH 664371) Taxon name on voucher: Passiflora caerulea

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive cultivated	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 935) "Forest margins and scrub". Escape from cultivation.

Additional information:
Photos and additional information at the Environment Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, web site of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

Additional online information about Passiflora caerulea is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Passiflora caerulea as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Passiflora caerulea may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1978. Voucher specimen #BISH 664371 (Buelow, G.P. 377754).

Fosberg, F. R. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

Macbride, J. Francis. 1936. Flora of Peru. Field Museum of Natural History, Botanical Series, Vol. XIII. 1936-1971, 6 parts.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.