the.com/passion flower
Named for Christ's crucifixion, not for the mood it puts you in.
means A climbing vine with an elaborate, otherworldly flower — crown-like filaments ringing the petals, with other parts jutting out like spokes or nails.
from Named by Spanish missionaries in the Americas during the 1500s–1600s, who looked at the flower's bizarre anatomy and saw a sermon: the ten petals and sepals for the ten faithful apostles, the fringed corona for the crown of thorns, the five anthers for the five wounds, the three stigmas for the three nails. 'Passion' here means the suffering of Christ (from Latin 'pati,' to suffer), not romance — the flower was a teaching tool before it was ever a houseplant.
- name origin
- missionaries saw crucifixion symbols in its petals
- actual use
- sedative herb, more chamomile than aphrodisiac
- fruit
- some species produce passionfruit, most do not
- pollinators
- bats and bees favor it, not romantics