Passiflora exoperculata | The Italian Collection of Maurizio Vecchia

Passiflora exoperculata, information, classification, temperatures. etymology of Passiflora exoperculata. Discover the Italian Passiflora Collection by Maurizio Vecchia.

Passiflora exoperculata | The Italian Collection of Maurizio Vecchia

Systematics (J. Macdougal et al., 2004)

SUBGENUS: decaloba
SUPERSECTION: multiflora


GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OR ORIGIN:

South of Ecuador and north of Bolivia


MINIMUM TEMPERATURE: 12 °C


IDEAL MINIMUM TEMPERATURE: 15 °C


ETYMOLOGY:

From the Latin exoperculatum, without lid. In the morphology of the flower of this species is not present the operculum, the terminal cavity of the calyx.


PHOTOGALLERY:


DESCRIPTION:

The stems of this climber have a square cross-section with rounded edges. The subgenus Decaloba presents another of its many variations in terms of leaf shape and structure. They are about 4 cm long and up to 9 cm wide between the two lateral lobes. They have a hemispherical base and the upper margin has three cusps.

The architecture of the leaves is based on the three main veins. The two lateral veins form an almost right angle and the triangle they form is equally divided by the central rib. The third side of this triangle is replaced by two wide-radius circular arcs which thus form three pointed lobes at an obtuse angle. The central vein, in line with the median rib, is sometimes shorter or just hinted at. In short, the subgenus Decaloba has a flair for geometry!

Such characteristic and unusual leaves are also pleasing to the eye because the upper surface, which follows the waviness of the veins, is shiny and of a beautiful intense green.

The flowering, although dense and abundant, is not spectacular. The flowers, sitting in pairs at the nodes of the stem, measure about 4 cm in diameter and are ivory-white in colour with green hues. The corona is made up of two series of curled, thin white filaments, with a dark purple base that enriches the corolla.

The plant, which is sensitive to temperatures below 10°C, should be grown in pots with rich, well-drained soil. The stems have short internodes, resulting in dense, choppy foliage.

P. exoperculata, native to Bolivia and Peru, is rare and little known to us.

Propagation can be done either from seed, or quickly and easily from cuttings.