Passiflora guglielmo betto | The Italian Collection of Maurizio Vecchia

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

Passiflora guglielmo betto | The Italian Collection of Maurizio Vecchia

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OR ORIGIN:

P. incarnata x P. tucumanensis.
Hybrid of horticultural origin.


MINIMUM TEMPERATURE: - 16 °C


IDEAL MINIMUM TEMPERATURE: 0 °C


ETYMOLOGY:

I dedicated my hybrid, one of the first ones I made, to the lawyer Guglielmo Betto, author of popular books like 'The tropical fruits in Italy' and 'The climbing plants'. These two books introduced me to the world of passion flowers.


PHOTOGALLERY:


DESCRIPTION:

Prior to 1997, as far as I had heard, crossing P. incarnata with P. tucumanensis had never been attempted. Therefore, when I had occasion to see the two plants blooming at the same time, knowing well the ease with which P. incarnata accepts pollen from other species, I took advantage of the coincidence. In this way, I obtained a fruit containing hybrid seeds.

From these, two plants were born and in August 1999, two years after sowing, the first buds finally appeared on one of them. I was very curious to see the result, unable to imagine what flowers would bloom.

I thus discovered that in the corona they had the same dominant pink as P. incarnata, but with far more contrasted alternating bands, not only with respect to those of P. tucumanensis, but also with respect to those of P. incarnata itself.

The filaments, perpendicular to the androgynophore, all lie on the same plane, wavy along most of their length, calling to mind a pinwheel.

The corolla, which remains partly hidden by this large and showy corona, is composed of very light petals and sepals, suffused with a soft pink grain and facing backwards.

The foliage is choppy because the trilobate leaves often have variously curved blades with very deep lobes. Its fruit, at times spontaneous, has a good flavour.

A cutting was placed in the ground to check its hardiness and P. 'Gugliemo Betto' managed to survive exceptionally harsh winters, down to -16°C.

P. tucumanensis, which is perhaps hardier than P. incarnata itself, can still withstand temperatures many degrees below zero.

I have found that P. 'Guglielmo Betto' has acquired the tendency of P. incarnata to emit numerous suckers, even if the aerial part is destroyed by the cold. In fact, in the spring, new and more numerous stems are released from the roots. It is not necessary to protect the foot of this climber with straw or peat before the arrival of the frosts since the plant goes to rest and the root system remains dormant.

P. 'Guglielmo Betto' proved to be a great resource as it was used as a mother to obtain one of my most important and appreciated hybrids: P. ‘Fata Confetto’.

Propagation by cuttings is very rapid with prompt root emission. The new root suckers themselves are an alternative and faster method of obtaining new plants.