Botanical name:Passiflora vesicaria var. vesicariaFamily:Passifloraceae (Passion flower family) Synonyms: Passiflora foetida var. glabrifolia, Passiflora foetida var. hispida
Love-in-a-mist is a creeping vine which has an edible fruit and leaves that
have a mildly rank aroma. It is native to northern South America and the West
Indies. The stems are thin, wiry and woody, covered with sticky yellow hairs.
The leaves are three- to five-lobed and viscid-hairy. They give off an
unpleasant odour when crushed. The flowers are white to pale cream coloured,
about 5-6 cm diameter.
Flower-cluster-stalks are 2-6 cm long,
Bracts are 2-4 cm long, increasing in size as fruit
develops, 2- or 3-piinately divided into gland
tipped segments, usually closely interwoven.
Flowers are white and mauve, 4.0-6.5 cm in diameter. Sepals are
ovate-lanceshaped or lanceshaped, 1.5-2.8 cm long, 0.6-1 cm wide,
Petals are oblong or lanceshaped, 1-2.5 cm long,
5-8 mm wide, thin-membranous, white on upper and lower surfaces. Corona
filaments are in 5-7 series, the outer two series 1-1.8 cm long,
thread-like, lower 1/3 to 1/2 part mauve or lilac, upper portion white,
inner 3-5 series erect, 1-3 mm high, getting shorter towards base,
white or white at base with mauve or lilac tip.
The fruit is globose, 1.5-3 cm diameter, yellowish-orange
to red when ripe, and has numerous black seeds embedded in the pulp; the fruit
are eaten and the seeds dispersed by birds.
Medicinal uses: This species can be helpful in treating digestive
problems, including dyspepsia and diarrhea; or used as an astringent and
expectorant for nervous conditions and spasms.
Identification credit: V. Ashwini, Dinesh Valke
Photographed in Uran, Maharashtra.
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The flower labeled Love in a Mist is ...