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The history of the Passion Flower “Maypop”
I remember as a kid walking through my papa’s garden and finding these gorgeous flowers. Papa would just pull them up and keep on gardening. I never knew they were called a Passion Flower “Maypop”.
I forgot about these beautiful flowers until recently they started growing behind our house… Well up our house, lol.
I became curious to what they were called, if their fruit was edible, and where they came from. I never knew they had a very sentimental and symbolic meaning behind their name.
They are called a Passion Flower because the Passion of Christ. Each part of the flower holds a symbolic meaning to the story of crucifixion.
The five sepals and five petals refer to the ten faithful apostles present at the crucifixion (excludes Judas and Peter).
The three stamen (the pollen producing section of the flower) represent the three nails that held Christ to the cross.
The five anthers (the part of the Stamen where the actual pollen is produced) represent the five wounds of Jesus.
The many, many fringes of the flower represent the thorns that pierced Jesus’ head. Bosio counted 72 fringes or filaments, which according to tradition, writes Vanderplank, is the number of thorns in the crown of thorns. Interpretations vary in literature per this website.
This gorgeous flower is also used for medicinal purposes. It can naturally treat insomnia, anxiety, mild infections, stress, and many other things.
How to harvest the Passion Flower “Maypop” according to this website.
Gather Passionflower above ground after some of the fruit have matured, hang in bundles (under 1 inch wide at base, avoid crowding) to dry for later use. Avoid drying herbs in damp areas, stagnant air or direct light for best results. Use all of the aerial parts including stems; don’t discard them like you do with most herbs as they contain medicinal properties. It seems to me that tea made with the stems is more potent than just the leaves and flowers. Gather edible fresh, juicy, fruit when soft and light yellow-green and store in refrigerator for up to a week.
The Passion Flower “Maypop” is also the state wild flower of Tennessee.
So next time you see one of these beautiful flowers growing – think of it’s symbolism and how special these beauties are. I certainly have a higher appreciation for these flowers.
Today, I and a co-worker were getting lunch and she marveled at this strange, but beautiful flower. I said it was beautiful and we retrieved some scissors from my bag, I started cutting away at the vine. We had no clue to the name, nature, nor the nature of this plant. However, it’s beauty captivated our interest. We took it back to work and our PSA advised that it was a passion of Christ flower. Would it be possible for someone to tell me how to grow this flower on my apartment stoop in FL.
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