Passiflora caerulea
Common names
blue passion flower
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Lianes & Related Trailing Plants - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Violet/Purple, White
Detailed description
Hairless vine with angular shoots. Leaves deeply 5-lobed and thin, middle lobe 3.5-8.5 cm long. Flowers purple/white, December-April.
Similar taxa
Can be separated from all other passiflora by at least some of the leaves having 5 lobes. Very distinctive blue flowers in summer.
Habitat
Terrestrial. Coastal areas, lowlands, light gaps, prefers fertile soil (DOC, 1998). Forest margins and scrub, roadsides wastelands, farm and orchard hedges, domestic gardens.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Passifloraceae
Ecology
Flowering
December, January, February, March, April.
Year naturalised
1958
Origin
S. Brazil to Argentina
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Tolerances
The most cold-tolerant of all Passiflora species in NZ.
Life cycle and dispersal
Perennial. Reproduces from seed, but also spreads vegetatively over large distances. Many viable seeds are borne in each fruit. Dispersed by blackbirds, fruit is also eaten by possums.
Other information
Etymology
passiflora: Passionflower
caerulea: From the Latin caeruleus ‘sky blue’
National Pest Plant Accord species
This plant is listed in the 2020 National Pest Plant Accord. The National Pest Plant Accord (NPPA) is an agreement to prevent the sale and/or distribution of specified pest plants where either formal or casual horticultural trade is the most significant way of spreading the plant in New Zealand. For up to date information and an electronic copy of the 2020 Pest Plant Accord manual (including plant information and images) visit the MPI website.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
PASCAE
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Heenan, PB; Sykes, WR 2003. Passiflora (Passifloraceae) in New Zealand: a revised key with notes on distribution. NZ J Botany 41: 217-221. DOI: 10.1080/0028825X.2003.9512842