Passion Flower

“Oh, cut me reeds to blow upon, Or gather me a star, but leave the sultry passion-flowers growing where they are. I fear their somber yellow deeps, their whirling fringe of black, and he who gives a passion-flower always asks it back.”

-Grace Hazard Conkling

Passion Flower

While out in our side yard the other day I noticed our Passion Vine finally had a couple of flowers on it, if you haven’t ever seen one, they are really unusual flowers. There are a lot of stories about the passion flower, one of my favorite is the use of the passion flower’s structure to tell the story of the death of Jesus. Early explorers and missionaries used the flowers to help in their conversion of native Americans to Christianity. The Legend goes something like this:

Five petals and five sepals represent the ten apostles, leaving out Judas the betrayer and Peter because he denied knowing Jesus.

It is said that the passion flower, the purple Carolla Bosion had seventy-two filaments, the number of thorns in the crown of Jesus.

The three pistil stigmas represent the nails.

The five stamens represent the number of wounds, so that to this day, Catholics in South and Central America call it ” The Flower of the Five Wounds.”

The leaf represents the spear that pierced the side of Jesus.

The dark spots under leaves are the 33 pieces of silver paid to Judas.

When the flower are spent after a single day (the time Jesus spent on the cross), the petals do not drop from the vine but re-close over the ovary, this symbolizes the Hidden Wisdom that constitutes the Mysteries of the Cross, and is like Jesus enclosed in the tomb.


What a beautiful legend, and what a beautiful and interesting flower. Some passion flowers produce fruit, which can be used to make jelly. There are many varieties of the passion flower, each with interesting and unusual characteristics. If you would like more info about passion flowers go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_flower

You will find tons of info on this great addition to your landscape.  Do you know any interesting flower legends, pass them on by leaving us a comment.

Passion Flower