Description of a Purple Passion Flower

Growth Habit

• Purple passion flowers bloom wild in fields, woods and along roadsides from June to September, preferring full sun and rich, well-drained soil. The buds burst open one at a time, continuing down the length of the vine, with each ornate blossom reaching a width of about 5 inches. Removing new shoot growth will help to prevent these fast-spreading plants from becoming invasive. Within three months after flowers appear, an abundance of fragrant, edible fruit emerges, each growing up to 3 inches long.

Host Plant

• Caterpillars feasting on the green foliage may slow the growth of passion flower vines. Gulf fritillary butterflies lay tiny eggs on the leaves that eventually hatch into caterpillars that can wreak havoc on these plants. Removing some of the larvae will help in averting total leaf damage. A multitude of stunning passion flowers coupled with a variety of surrounding shrubs may aid in obscuring some of the vine's devastated foliage.

Sustenance and Medicine

• In the early 1600s, Native American tribes in Virginia cultivated purple passion flower vines. The fruit borne of these plants was eaten raw, crushed to make juice and boiled into syrup. The leaves and shoots were added to other greens, which the Indians cooked and ate. Purple passion flower roots steeped in tea eased a baby's transition from its mother's milk and beating the roots in warm water resulted in a liquid that became eardrops used to soothe ear pain.

Religious Symbolism

• A purple passion flower's intricate network of parts is filled with Christian symbolism, according to Meredith McGroarty in "Higher Ground," the University of Tennessee's online magazine. Early Spanish explorers regarded the blossom's 10 petals as a representation of 10 of Jesus Christ's 12 Apostles -- excluding Judas, Jesus' betrayer and Peter who denied him. The flower's five anthers signify the nail and lance wounds inflicted upon Christ's body during the Crucifixion. The fringed edging, or "corona," that surrounds the flower's center reflects Jesus' crown of thorns.