// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Passiflora pallens say? I'm a pale flower.
| Passiflora pallens | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Passifloraceae |
| Genus: | Passiflora |
| Species: | P. pallens |
| Binomial name | |
| Passiflora pallens | |
Passiflora pallens, commonly known as the pineland passionflower or pineland passion-flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Passifloraceae. It is a perennial climbing vine native to southern peninsular Florida and the West Indies, including Cuba and Hispaniola. It occurs in rockland hammocks, bayheads, strand swamps, coastal berms, roadside thickets, and other disturbed upland habitats.[1][2]
The species is characterized by smooth, waxy stems, three-lobed leaves with stalked glands on the petiole, showy white flowers with a white-and-purple corona, and oval fruits that become yellow when ripe.[2]
Description
[edit]Passiflora pallens is a high-climbing perennial vine with smooth, waxy, glabrous stems. It climbs through surrounding vegetation using long, coiling axillary tendrils.[2]
The leaves are alternately arranged and generally divided into three broad lobes. The sinuses between the lobes extend less than halfway from the lobe tips toward the base of the blade. The leaf margins are serrated, particularly near the bases of the lateral lobes. Each petiole bears two stalked glands, and two small, leaf-like stipules occur at the base of the petiole.[2][3]
The flowers are showy and borne singly on long stalks arising from the leaf axils. Three small, leaf-like bracts occur beneath each flower. The flower has five white, petal-like sepals, each bearing a pointed green appendage near its tip, and five white petals that are slightly shorter than the sepals.[2]
The floral corona consists of numerous white and purple filaments surrounding the central reproductive column. The fruit is an oval berry which becomes yellow when mature.[2]
Taxonomy
[edit]Passiflora pallens was validly published by British botanist Maxwell T. Masters in 1872 from a name attributed to German botanist Eduard Friedrich Poeppig. The valid description appeared in volume 13, part 1 of Flora Brasiliensis, on page 567, with an accompanying illustration.[4]
The name is cited as:
- Passiflora pallens Poepp. ex Mast., Fl. Bras. 13(1): 567, plate 128, figure 4. 1872.[4]
Masters had previously used the name in an 1871 treatment published in the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, but that usage was an invalidly published name because it lacked a valid description or diagnosis.
The specific epithet pallens is derived from Latin and means “pale” or “becoming pale”, likely referring to the pale coloration of the flowers.
Identification
[edit]Passiflora pallens can be distinguished from other passionflowers in southern Florida by its combination of three-lobed leaves, broad kidney-shaped stipules, serrated leaf margins, relatively large white flowers, and yellow mature fruits.[3]
It differs from the introduced blue passionflower, Passiflora caerulea, in having three-lobed leaves with sinuses extending less than halfway toward the leaf base. P. caerulea generally has five to seven, and occasionally as many as nine, deeply divided leaf lobes.[3]
The white passionflower, Passiflora multiflora, has much smaller greenish-white flowers without pointed sepal appendages, unlobed leaves, and small, dark-blue fruits. The goatsfoot passionflower, Passiflora sexflora, has smaller pale-green flowers, densely hairy foliage and fruit, and petioles lacking glands.[2]
Distribution
[edit]Passiflora pallens is native to southern peninsular Florida and the West Indies. Its West Indian distribution includes Cuba and Hispaniola.[1]
Within the United States, it is native only to Florida. NatureServe reports it from southern Florida, including the Everglades, Keys and the Cape Sable region.[5]
Habitat and ecology
[edit]In Florida, Passiflora pallens occurs in rockland hammocks, coastal and interior hammocks, bayheads, coastal berms, strand swamps, roadside thickets, and disturbed upland areas.[1][2][5]
Its heliophily rating indicates that it tolerates partial shade and is less strongly restricted to open, sunny habitats than some other passionflower species.[1]
The vine often climbs into shrubs and trees along forest margins and within tropical hardwood hammocks.[2]
Conservation
[edit]NatureServe assigns Passiflora pallens a global conservation rank of G3G4, indicating uncertainty between vulnerable and apparently secure. Its rounded global rank is G3, or vulnerable. The global rank was last reviewed on 3 August 1993 and is identified by NatureServe as needing review.[5]
NatureServe describes the species as having a limited geographic range but occurring in habitats that may be locally common. Within the United States, it is ranked N2, or nationally imperiled, and S2, or imperiled, in Florida. It has no status under the United States Endangered Species Act.[5]
The Florida Natural Areas Inventory also assigns it ranks of G3G4 and S2 and reports that it is legally listed as endangered by the state of Florida. In 2000, FNAI reported 12 known Florida populations, eight of which occurred on conservation lands, with fewer than 10,000 plants estimated statewide.[2]
Threats include the destruction and fragmentation of tropical hardwood hammocks, strand swamps, coastal berms, and other remaining natural habitats. Invasive non-native plants may also alter or displace suitable habitat. [2]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Weakley, Alan S.; Southeastern Flora Team (2026). "Passiflora pallens". Flora of the Southeastern United States. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Pineland passion-flower: Passiflora pallens" (PDF). Florida Natural Areas Inventory. 2000. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 Weakley, Alan S.; Southeastern Flora Team (2026). "Key to Passiflora". Flora of the Southeastern United States. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
- 1 2 "Passiflora pallens Poepp. ex Mast". International Plant Names Index. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Herbarium. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Passiflora pallens". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. Retrieved 15 July 2026.