Passiflora suberosa – Wild passionfruit.
Family Passifloraceae.
It has many common names including wild, corky, pointed leaf and small passionfruit.
It is naturalised in S.E. Queensland where it is a weed.
It grows as a climber or creeper with stems up to 6 m long.
Old stems develop corky bark and other stems can be smooth to very hairy.
It climbs by simple, unbranched axillary tendrils.
The alternate leaves are on stalks up to 4 cm long.
There are small, linear stipules under 1 cm long at the base of the petiole.
There are 2 large glands about midway along the petiole.
Leaf blades can be simple but usually have 3 lobes with pointed tips.
The bases are round or heart-shaped and there are usually no glands.
Lobed leaves are up to 12 cm long and the unlobed ones are smaller.
Inflorescences are axillary and the flowers have no petals.
Flower stalks are up to 2.5 cm long with bracts 1 mm long under the flowers.
The flowers are only 1 to 2 cm across.
There are 5 white or greenish sepals up to 1 cm long.
The corona has four whorls with the outer filaments being longer.
The 5 stamens, with anthers about 1.7 mm long, are attached to a short androgynophore.
Above the stamens is the ovary with 3, 4 mm long, curved styles.
The stigmas are club-shaped.
The fruit are smooth, round berries up to 1.5 cm across.
They ripen from green to a bluish or purplish-black.
They contain numerous flattened seeds about 3 mm long.
J.F.
