After the Spanish missionary S. Parlesca brought a copy of this plant to Rome in 1605, the Catholic clergy identified the crown of its perianth with the crown of thorns going to the crucifixion of Christ, and the stamens and pistil - with instruments of torture, “instruments of the passion of God,” hence the Latin name "passionflower" was born, translated into Russian as "passion flower".
Sometimes this flower is called "the star of cavalry", and its image is often found in the paintings of famous painters of the 17th-19th centuries, and stylized flowers served as the basis for the pattern of the beautiful cast-iron lattice of the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg. Indeed, the flower resembles ancient orders with their elegant decoration.
Passionflower is one of the most original plants with large flowers of an unusual structure. Its flower is unlike any other flower in the world. Inside the wide-open, bright double perianth, there is an even brighter crown of long straight or gracefully curved wavy filaments, and in the center there is an ovary with three cruciform stigmas, bordered by five stamens with large oblong anthers.
Genus passionflower, or passion flower (Passiflora) belongs to the family of the same name passionflower (Passifloraceae) and has about 400 species with flowers of unusual shape of all kinds of colors. Sometimes these are herbaceous shrubs, but more often they are vines, clinging to the support with antennae. Leaves are palmate or tripartite, less often lobed. The flowers are mainly axillary, more often solitary, less often paired. The most varied colors. The fruits are oval, often edible.
The greatest variety of passionflower can be found in the tropical zone of North, Central and South America. It was from there, thanks to the efforts of botanists and amateur naturalists of the 18th-19th centuries, that most of the species ended up in the greenhouses of Europe. And the most cold-resistant of them are blue passionflower. (Passiflora caerulea),meat-red (Passiflora incarnata) and yellow(Passiflora lutea) - now winter in the south and in the open field. Only a few species are found in tropical Asia, the Mascarene Islands, Australia, Polynesia and New Zealand. 
Among passion flowers there are many plants whose corollas open only at night. Like most of these species, they are short-lived: opening, as a rule, around midnight, they wither by 10 am, and only in rainy and cool weather their flowering can drag on until 1 pm.
Flowers bloom almost simultaneously, and after 15 minutes the whole plant is covered with white, up to 8 cm in diameter, flowers.
Thanks to the long pedicels, the flowers appear to be carried over the edge of the foliage, and thus are clearly visible at a great distance. The flowers open very quickly, their buds seem to explode, forcing the stems to sway, and the petals straighten right before our eyes.
Immediately, as soon as the flower opens, the anthers burst, the stamens and columns begin to move, and then the anthers unfold with the open side outward, and behind them the filaments begin to bend, forming a semicircle on the outside of the flower. At the same time, the columns move, bending and positioning the stigmas between the anthers. After 20-For 30 minutes, the flower turns outward, as it were, and pours out a delicate aroma, attracting nocturnal pollinators.
Thanks to their beautiful flowers, fragrant edible fruits, medicinal properties, passion flowers are widely cultivated in many countries of the world. Only in our country, about a dozen of their species can be grown on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus.
Numerous types of passionflower are cultivated as ornamental plants and are often used for arranging trellises.Passion flowers are plants that do not tolerate frost, therefore, in cold climates, they are bred in greenhouses or conservatories, and in the summer they are taken out into the open air - on a balcony or patio.
Of all the species, the Brazilian passion flower blue is the most common. (Passifloracaerulae) with a blue or blue striped crown and purple posts, which can be admired in the greenhouses of the botanical gardens. It is a plant with a dark green filiform stem, with glossy, finger-like leaves. The flower corolla consists of white-gray petals around the crown of thin multi-colored (purple at the base, white in the middle and blue at the top) filaments, and in the very center there are 5 protruding golden-yellow stamens and 3 chestnut pistils.
No less colorful view passionflower scarlet(Passiflora coccinea) with beautiful deep red flowers. Passiflora hybrid obtained from crossing the variety 'Constance Eliot' P.caerulae and P. quadrangularis, in a mild climate, it blooms profusely from summer to autumn, the flowers are white with a transition to pink, with a red-purple crown, orange shiny oval fruits appear in place of the flowers.
Read about medicinal types in the article Medicinal properties of passionflower.
Despite the beauty, she is unpretentious
The subtleties of growing for all species are the same. Passionflower reproduces easily vegetatively and by seeds.
The plant prefers soils that are medium in texture and contain a large amount of organic matter. It also reproduces by seeds very easily - the seeds are sown into the soil without preliminary preparation. It is better to sow seedlings in March, with too early sowing (in December-January), the seeds are in no hurry to germinate and can rot.
In the phase of 2-3 pairs of real leaves, the plants are split into separate pots, so that they can simply be transferred further into a large container and not injured the roots.
For the winter, the plants are brought into the room and placed in a cool and bright place. Watered as needed, but not poured. In autumn and winter, the plant needs to maintain a temperature between +10 and + 15 ° C. The place should be well lit, accessible to direct sunlight.
And from March, they begin to intensively feed, if necessary, they are transferred into a larger pot, but not more than 25 cm in diameter. In subsequent years, it will be sufficient to replace 2.5-5 cm of the topsoil with fresh of the same composition.
During transplanting, cut the plants a little to shape: shorten the central stems to a height of 15-20 cm from the base, side branches - up to 5-10 cm. The stems should be tied to a support. The best place for passion flower growth in spring and summer is well lit by the sun, the optimum temperature is + 18 + 20 ° С.
After the danger of frost has passed, you can put the plant on the veranda and use it to decorate it.
Water generously (at least three times a week, being careful not to leave any puddles on the surface) and spray the leaves regularly to keep the environment moist. During this period, feed once a week with liquid compound fertilizer.
But the easiest way to propagate passionflower is green cuttings. This does not require artificial fog installations or supernova root formation stimulants. Cut twigs with two internodes in the spring and, tearing off the bottom leaf, place them in a glass of water. After 20 days, roots will appear and you can plant young plants in the soil. Almost 100% rooting and no hassle. Just do not put many cuttings in one jar at once, it is better to place them in 1-2 pieces. Otherwise, they can rot. Plant rooted cuttings in 10cm pots and care for them as described above.
In the south, the plant blooms 50-60 days after the spring regrowth, and after another 1.5-2 months the fruits ripen.
In winter, the plant is prone to drying out, yellowing and leaf fall, especially on the windowsill next to the radiator. To avoid these troubles, keep the plant in the light, and do not forget to water it.
You can get rid of red ticks and green aphids by spraying the plants with appropriate preparations, only this should be done on the balcony or on an open veranda, and not in a room with closed vents. Against the mealybug, you can treat plants by watering them with Aktara. The plant must be processed in the fall a few days before it is brought into the room. Read more in the article Pests of indoor plants and measures to combat them.
