Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 4, 2014 7:56:54 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Here's a Texas native plant all y'all might not have seen before. It's been late blooming this year but yesterdays rain got it going. It's called Corona De Christo and is a type of wild passion flower. Grows mainly in sort of loose piles close to the ground. Interesting feature is the flower bracts form a kind of spiny cage like insect trap when the flower drops off. You can see part of one of the bracts below the flower in the pic. Please excuse the lousy hand held pic. Flower is tiered with a lot of depth so I couldn't get a very good pic as I could not get my tripod up to the plant.....Mel  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2014 8:00:51 GMT -5
Does it produce fruit?my inlaws live in southeast tx and the woods a littered with them,they sometimes produce a plum sized green fruit,never ate one though
Dave
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 4, 2014 9:20:08 GMT -5
Dave: I have another variety that does produce a few edible fruit. Never seen this type set any fruit but admittedly, the Frittilary butterfly caterpillars pretty much munch it down every year.....Mel
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Sept 4, 2014 9:44:30 GMT -5
Passion flower serves as a host to a certain species of butterfly larvae as you mentioned. They are grown here to attract butterflies, especially in butterfly houses. The native one here produces fruit Dave mentioned; we call them maypops. And served us well as kids in battles. Once this fruit browns, the seeds have a sweet coating that we used to eat, not sure if it should be eaten but we did. over 500 varieties, about all in tropical environment, all eye catchers. Callaway gardens has a large butterfly house open to public full of various passion vines. Similar Fruit and flower to this area  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2014 11:32:16 GMT -5
Beautiful flowers.mother nature is a wonderful lady.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Sept 4, 2014 12:05:29 GMT -5
I have the fruitless passionflower in my yard. A neighbor up the block has the fruiting variety - messy! 
A quick growing vine, they've covered this chain link fence. 
The flowers are beautiful, and smell heavenly! 
Mel, so cool that you have wild ones native to Texas!
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Post by rockpickerforever on Sept 4, 2014 12:40:44 GMT -5
As Mel said, the passionflower foliage is food for the caterpillar of the Fritillary butterfly.
The fritillaries don't care if they are fruiting or fruitless. They lay individual eggs that look like little gold gem boxes. 
They hatch into these cool looking caterpillars with racing stripes 
Which when they've eaten and grown enough, turn into a chrysalis (cocoon). 
And the final result (which you saw laying the eggs, of course). 
My passionflower does suffer some damage from the caterpillars, but not too much. My sister has a milkweed plant, which is host to the Monarch butterfly. Those ravenous little buggers WILL strip all the leaves off the plant, leaving only the stems!
(Mel, please forgive me for usurping your thread.) |
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garock
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Post by garock on Sept 4, 2014 19:17:00 GMT -5
Use to have "may pop" battles when I was a kid ! Just a few years ago. They grew prolific around the house them but there are none nowhere around the homeplace now !
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Sept 5, 2014 4:47:50 GMT -5
Use to have "may pop" battles when I was a kid ! Just a few years ago. They grew prolific around the house them but there are none nowhere around the homeplace now ! Our battleground was a built up road crossing a creek in an open(battle) field. May pops growing on the steep road embankment(supplies) and on both sides of creek(firing line). Brutal. Just a few years ago. |
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Post by radio on Sept 5, 2014 7:48:20 GMT -5
The Clematis we have here look very similar to the Passion flower. The pod that is left after the blossom drops looks like something out of an Alien "B" movie  |
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Sept 5, 2014 10:03:20 GMT -5
Mother Nature at its best!!! Great photos all...........
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Sept 5, 2014 16:59:31 GMT -5
The Clematis we have here look very similar to the Passion flower. The pod that is left after the blossom drops looks like something out of an Alien "B" movie Clematis incredible. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2014 18:04:50 GMT -5
That image looks like Tillandsia. Didn't know clematis had green flowers.  |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Sept 5, 2014 18:14:41 GMT -5
That photo was a bit too much of a close up to see clearly. Here's some I used to have.
The alien is what's left after the petals fall. Pretty sure it is a seed pod, seeds developing inside. 
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Post by rockpickerforever on Sept 5, 2014 20:06:41 GMT -5
Use to have "may pop" battles when I was a kid ! Just a few years ago. They grew prolific around the house them but there are none nowhere around the homeplace now ! Our battleground was a built up road crossing a creek in an open(battle) field. May pops growing on the steep road embankment(supplies) and on both sides of creek(firing line). Brutal. Just a few years ago. Okay, guys, here's your may pops! Frankie you are so funny - "when you were a kid, just a few years ago." That's the spirit!
These are from a neighbor down the street. I thought they weren't ripe until they turned dark? Anyway, great ammo at any stage of ripeness! 
Perfect pitching or lobbing size. 
It has a tough rind, had to use a sharp knife. I think I could have done without cutting one open. Eewww, looks sorta disgusting. 
Kind of has a citrus-y smell. Okay, I'll admit it - I did taste it. It was bitter. 
I know these are edible, I've seen recipes for making stuff with them. But I'm not sure when they are ripe. Maybe this one is over the edge?
As hard as these are, I would not want to get hit with one, lol. Yeah, brutal.
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Post by radio on Sept 5, 2014 20:09:53 GMT -5
A bit less dramatic view. I have some plants that bear seed pods almost identical to the softer, prettier ones above. This particular plant bears seed pods that have thick, curled "tentacles" so must be just waiting to lure humans in closer for some Alien revenge   |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Sept 14, 2014 15:12:20 GMT -5
Public apology to Sabre52Dear Mel, Please accept my apology for totally hijacking this thread. I don't know what came over me. (Guess I have a passion for passion flowers as well!) I do not wish to be ostracized by you because of my lapse in judgment. I enjoy your posts, and the knowledge you impart to this forum. You are funny, articulate, and an all around good guy. (Even if you do like gaudy cowboy boots!) Please be assured that it will not happen again. Jean (rockpicker forever) |
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panamark
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Post by panamark on Sept 14, 2014 16:07:58 GMT -5
In Panama we have at least 3 different species of passionfruit. Only one is good to eat, while one is poisonous! Live dangerously! Here is a really bizzare looking one that looks like something of Star Trek. Wasn't the crew almost eaten by it? This is the poison one.  Actually ours is a bit more like this  I think the scientific name is Passiflora seemanii but I can't be sure without my book - that is down there |
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
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Post by Sabre52 on Sept 14, 2014 21:09:23 GMT -5
Holy smokes! That Panama passion flower is flat out beautiful. I want one!!!!!!!! Now I'm gonna hafta try and find me one of those. We have a beautiful purple heavily scented type in the yard ( smells wonderful) and it bears fruit. Don't know about eating them but the juice is supposed to be good. We also have a white passionflower that is neat because it does not freeze back in winter. Never seen that one fruit at all.
Interesting about the clematis. We have a wild one called "old man's beard". Grows on fences like a weed and I really like it, but danged if I can get it started on my fences. I must be the only Texican that can't grow cowpen daisy either. Grows all over our horse corrals and I plant in the yard and it don't do diddly squat.
Scott: Those Tillandsia are all over all our oak trees. There are a smog indicator and will not grow wild except where there is moist "clean" air. They even grow on some of the telephone lines especially in wetter parts of the Hill Country.....Mel
PS: Jean: it ain't highjacking, it's merely contributing good interesting stuff to the discussion. Y'all don't never need to be doing no apologizing to one of the biggest jibber-jabber mouths on the planet *L*. My wife usually has to kick my shins black and blue to shut me the heck up.
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 14, 2014 21:39:17 GMT -5
I don't have pictures, so it may not be true, but I've got two clematis on my fence. Love those things. One pink, one purple. As soon as one is done blooming, the next one and then the climbing rose.
Passion flower- reminds me of my time in Florida- grew like weeds all over the place.
May pops!!!! Good Lord, I haven't thought of those in years! I never see them anymore, either.
Love moonvines, too. They smell heavenly, lighten up the darkness and attract those awesome sphinx moths that look exactly like hummingbirds.
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