Passiflora tarminiana
NPPA pest plant
Common name
banana passionfruit
Family
Passifloraceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Lianes & Related Trailing Plants - Dicotyledons
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial. Lowland and coastal shrubland, margins of remnant forest stands, light gaps, roadsides, wasteland, farm and orchard hedges windbreaks, plantations.
Features
Vigorous vine, often high-climbing. Stems with small stipules that do not persist long on mature stems. Leaves 3-lobed up to 12 cm long, without hairs on either surface. Flower with short tube (up to 6 cm) with a prominent nectary chamber and widely reflexed pale pink petals. Fruit slender and fusiform, up to 9 cm long. Green with small clear spots ripening to yellowish-orange, pulp orange, sweet and edible. Seed 4-5mm long.
Similar taxa
Can be separated from other Passiflora species, by the three-lobed leaves without hairs, and the absence of stipules on mature stems. When flowering, P. tarminiana has a hypanthium/sepal ratio of 1.3-1.6 and a nectary chamber 1.4-2.0 cm wide.
Flowering
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Flower colours
Red/Pink
Life cycle
Perennial. Seed bank viability may be up to 2 years. Reproduces by seed and some vegetative reproduction is possible by suckering stems touching bare soil. Many viable seeds are produced in each fruit. Possums and birds, primarily blackbirds, feed on fleshy fruit (Fromont and King, 1992).
Year naturalised
1970
Origin
N Andes
Reason for introduction
Agricultural
Tolerances
Slightly tolerant to shade, intolerant to frost, moderately tolerant to moisture ranges.
Etymology
passiflora: Passionflower
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.
References and further reading
Heenan, P.B.; Sykes, W.R. 2003. Passiflora (Passifloraceae) in New Zealand: a revised key with notes on distribution. NZ Journal of Botany 41: 217-221. DOI: 10.1080/0028825X.2003.9512842