Passiflora laurifolia L.

Perennial liana to c. 10 m long, with simple axillary tendrils, glabrous except for ovary and bracts. Stem terete, striate, stout. Stipules linear, falcate, 3–13 mm long, 0.4–1 mm wide. Leaves alternate, simple; lamina ovate-oblong to oblong, 6–14.2 cm long, 3.5–8 cm wide, apex acute, base rounded to cordate, margin entire with 7–25 glands; petiole 0.5–3 cm long, with 2 sessile glands (1–1.5 mm diam.) near lamina. Flowers bisexual, borne singly in leaf axils, 5–7 cm diam.; pedicels 1.5–3 (–8) cm long; bracts 3, ovate or ovate-oblong, 2.5–5.5 cm long, 2–4.9 cm wide, green, with 4–11 marginal glands toward apex, glandular-serrate, free to base. Sepals white with red or purple spots, 2–5.1 cm long, keeled toward apex, terminating in an awn 1–2 mm long. Petals white with red or purple spots, 1.8–4.9 cm long. Corona of 5–7 series of filaments; outer 2 series banded white and red or purple in basal half and purple in the apical half; outer series 12–30 mm long; second-most outer series 24–43 mm long; remaining series 1–2 mm long. Operculum white, membranous, apically dentate, 0.5–1.1 mm long. Androgynophore straight, 10–16 mm long. Stamens 5. Styles 3. Fruit an ovoid berry, 4–8.4 cm long, 3.8–6.3 cm wide, yellowish orange with light orange spots when mature. Seeds finely reticulate.

A tropical plant. It grows naturally in the Amazon in Brazil. It grows in lowland areas in the tropics. It does best in slightly drier, humid climates. It is damaged by frost. It can grow on a variety of soils. It suits plant hardiness zones 11-12.

Grown mostly within its native range for its fruit which is less tart than Passiflora edulis (Pope 1935). In the Caribbean the fruit is used in refreshing drinks and sherberts (Killip 1938).

Plants are mostly grown from seed. They can be grown from cuttings. Bottom heating the seeds at 20-26°C can result in germination at 1-2 weeks, at lower temperatures seeds can take up to 10 weeks to germinate.