Passiflora antioquiensis H. Karst.

Curtis's botanical magazine, Volume 92

Tacsonia van-volxemii Hook. Bot. Mag. 92: t. 5571.

One of the most striking and beautiful plants hitherto introduced into Europe, easy of cultivation, and continuing a considerable time in flower. It promises to rival the Lapafferia, and even to eclipse it. The genus to which it belongs inhabits South America, principally the valleys of the Andes; and it is stated in Lemaire's ' Jardin Fleuriste' that this species is a native of the temperate region of the province of Antioquia, in New Granada, where it is cultivated by the natives. It was introduced into Belgium, in 1858, by a zealous amateur, M. Van Volxem, who found it in a garden at Bogota ; and I have native specimens collected by Goudot in the Quindiu Andes, in the same country. For the specimen here figured, as well as for a fine plant presented to the Royal Gardens, I am indebted to Messrs. lucombe and Price, of Exeter. It succeeds well in a warm greenhouse, and according to its discoverer it resists a temperature of the freezing-point in its own country.

Passiflora antioquiensis H. Karst. Linnaea 30: 162. 1859

Passiflora laurifolia

Passiflora tinifolia
Curtis's Botanical Magazine Nº 4958, Vol. 83 (1857)

Introduced to Monserrate in 1860.

Passiflora laurifolia L.
Species Plantarum 2: 956. 1753.

Synonyms
Granadilla laurifolia (L.) Medik.
Killip, E. P. 1938. The American Species of Passifloraceae [concl.]. Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 19(2): 333–613.
!Passiflora acuminata DC.
Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2007. Fl. China Vol. 13.
Passiflora laurifolia var. tinifolia (Juss.) Bois
Killip, E. P. 1938. The American Species of Passifloraceae [concl.]. Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 19(2): 333–613.
Passiflora oblongifolia Pulle
Killip, E. P. 1938. The American Species of Passifloraceae [concl.]. Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 19(2): 333–613.
Passiflora tinifolia Juss.
Killip, E. P. 1938. The American Species of Passifloraceae [concl.]. Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 19(2): 333–613.
Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2007. Fl. China Vol. 13.


Illustrated Botanical Magazine 4958 (1857) as Passiflora tinifolia.






PASSIFLORA Tinifolia.
Laurestine-leaved Passion -flower.

Nat. Ord. Passifloreae —Monadelphia Pentandria.
Gen. Char. (Vide supra, Tab. 4406).

Passiflora (§ Granadilla) tinifolia; foliis oblongis brevi-acuminatis integerrimis basi obtusis, petiolis brevibus infra apicem biglandulosis, stipulis lineari-subulatis, bracteis araplis ovalibua apice pauci-crenatis dentibus glanduligeris, coronae filamentis calycem aequantibus.

Passiflora tinifolia. Juss. Ann. Mus. v. 6. p. 113. t. 41. f. 2. De Cand. Prodr. v. 3.p. 328. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 3. p. 36.

A rare and very little known species of Passion-flower, of the group or section called "Granadilla" of De Cand. Mem.: that is, having a triphyllous involucre beneath the flower, whose leaflets are entire or toothed, not laciniated; the calyx ten-lobed; the pedicels single-flowered, and with simple cirrhi arising from the same axils with the flowers. This group contains the eatable kinds of Passiflora. Jussieu's figure and description were made from Richard's dried specimens gathered in French Guiana. We knew not of any other locality, till our friend Charles S. Parker of Liverpool sent us living specimens, derived from Demerara, in July of the past year, 1856. It is a species of considerable beauty, and the fruit, described as " globose, yellow, of the size of an apricot," is probably as esculent and well-flavoured as that of the other edible species, especially of the P. laurifolia, L., its nearest ally; which however differs from our plant in its shorter and, at the base, more heart-shaped leaves, stipules which are truncated obliquely at the apex; in the two glands of the petiole being placed nearer the leaf; in the large, oval, more crenulated leaflets of the involucre, which are equal in length with the calyx, of which the segments do not exceed in length the longest filaments of the corona. It is a plant of easy cultivation in a moist stove.

Descr. Stem climbing, the branches terete, glabrous, tinged with purple on one side. Leaves about four inches long, alternate, distant, oblong or subelliptical, quite undivided and entire at the margin, subcoriaceous, the base obtuse, the apex shortly acuminated; penniveined, the veins connected by slender veinlets. Petiole short, about half an inch long, bearing below the apex two prominent glands. Stipules two, linear-subulate, herbaceous. Peduncle about an inch long, solitary, axillary, single-flowered, having a little below the flower three large erect bracts or leaflets, of an oval shape, membranaceous, green, erect, faintly and distantly striated, crenato-dentate at the apex; teeth few, distant, each bearing a conspicuous gland; these three constitute the involucre, which is about half the length of the flower. Sepals narrow-oblong, greenish-white without, red within. Corona consisting of a double ray; exterior of several filaments half the length of the interior, purple, barred with white at the base, and white at the subcapitate apex; inner row of numerous, equal, thickened but compressed filaments, barred with white and red at the base, and white-purple and white in the upper half; the apex dilated and toothed: there is an innermost circle or ring, which is tuberculated, and which would be considered by some as a third ray. Column, stamens, and styles and stigmas as in the genus.

Fig. 1. Section of a portion of the flower, showing the nature of the corona Filamentosa:—magnified.

Tacsonia, Nice 1860

Voici maintenant ce qu'un amateur niçois, M. le baron Prost, nous apprend au sujet de la culture de divers Tacsonia, en plein air. Sa notice extraite de la Revue de Nice (numéro du 1er novembre 1860) est reproduite par le journal anglais, [Gardeners' Chronicle] et c'est de ce dernier que nous emprunterons les passages suivants :

« Les quelques Tacsonia dont j'ai à parler ici, dit M. Prost, sont de charmantes espèces grimpantes, très-voisines, comme on sait, des Passiflores. Elles ont été apportées de la Nouvelle-Grenade, du Pérou et du Chili, et quoique bien connues des savants, les horticulteurs qui, sous les climats du Nord, ne les voient fleurir qu'en serre chaude, ne se doutent pas de l'effet qu'elles produisent lorsqu'elles viennent en toute liberté sous un climat qui leur convient. Elles ont trouvé ce climat à Nice, où déjà les Tacsonia manicata et mollissima commencent à être populaires. Le Tacsonia ignea, magnifique plante à fleurs écarlates et la plus belle du genre, est celle qui étonne le plus les amateurs par sa splendide floraison, sa vigueur et la verdure lustrée de son feuillage. Elle croît avec une rapidité extraordinaire; en très-peu de jours elle couvre de vastes surfaces sur les murs ou sur les treillages, et lorsqu'elle est à bonne exposition, elle fleurit d'un bout de l'année à l'autre. Le Tacsonia splendens est très-voisin de ignea, et pourrait être confondu avec lui s'il ne s'en distinguait par un feuillage d'un vert glauque et foncé. Le Tacsonia mollissima se fait remarquer par la longueur du tube de son calice, et le brillant coloris rosé de ses pétales, légèrement teintés d'amaranthe; il fleurit abondamment et est d'une élégance parfaite. Le manicata a les fleurs d'un rouge aussi vif que celles du Pelargonium zonale, avec les étamines d'un pourpre noir, ce qui fait un singulier effet. C'est une plante vigoureuse, à feuillage épais, et dont les fleurs rappellent d'assez près celles du Tacsonia ignea, mais avec une teinte plus foncée. Quant au Tacsonia pinnatistipula, ses fleurs sont d'un blanc pur, et si nombreuses, qu'on croirait, à une certaine distance, voir une plante couverte de neige. Une dernière espèce est encore cultivée dans les jardins de Nice : c'est le Tacsonia Helleri, qu'on dit être aussi une plante fort méritante, mais que je n'ai pas encore vue fleurir.

« Ces différentes Passiflorées ont jusqu'à présent été multipliées de boutures, mais ce qui parle haut en faveur du climat niçois, c'est que celles qui y ont fleuri ont mûri leurs graines. Il en est de même de l'Ipomoean Learii, superbe Convolvulácée qui se propage à Nice par ce dernier moyen, et dont on peut voir en ce moment de très-beaux échantillons dans les jardins de M. Stuart, à la villa Stuart.»
On peut juger par ce qui précède que le climat de Nice n'est pas très-inférieur à celui d'Alger. Peu de localités en Europe conviendraient mieux pour l'établissement d'un jardin botanique universel.

Tacsonia ignea

Tacsonia manicata
Paxton, Flower Garden Displayed

A magnificent terrace extends along the whole front of the palacio, and is formed by a high wall, built on the steep slope of the lawn, and surmounted by a handsome balustrade, little, however, of which can be seen for the profusion of beautiful climbers, which cover the wall and intertwine with the balusters, so as to form a floral drapery of exceeding loveliness. Amongst these climbers, chief in beauty, was Tacsonia ignea, a plant which, as far as I have been able to ascertain, is not found in our gardens. Its flowers are the same bright colour as our Tom-Thumb geraniums, and the effect of thousands of them, thickly scattered over the thick drapery of thick dark green foliage, was beautiful in the extreme.

Tacsonia ignea hort. ex Mast.
Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 27: 629. 1871.

The Gardeners' Chronicle uses this name interchangeably with Tacsonia manicata

L. H. Bailey, 1919, THE STANDARD CYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE
Passiflora manicata, Pers. (P. ignea, Hort. Tacsonia manicata, Juss.). RED PASSION-VINE. Fig. 2775. St. nearly terete, finely pale-pubescent: Ivs. coriaceous, 3-lobed to about the middle, finely serrate, the lobes broad- oblong, pale beneath; stipules ovate, 1 in. across, notched, clasping: fls. solitary on slender axillary pedun- cles, brilliant scarlet, 4 in. across; perianth-tube 3^m. long, inflated and 10-ribbed at base; outer corona of many short blue filaments, some of which surround the column; inner corona of an inflexed membrane: fr. egg-shaped or almost globular, yellow-green, the skin thick; seeds many in a thin pulp. Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. B.M. 6129. G.F. 7:265 (from which Fig. 2775 is reduced). R.H. 1903:356. This plant seems to be grown with difficulty in greenhouses, but it is at home in the open in S. Calif., climbing into the tops of trees and blooming profusely, making a brilliant display. It grows with great vigor and rapidity, renewing itself freely from seeds.

Tacsonia mollissima

Paxton's Magazine of Botany, and Register of Flowering Plants edited by Joseph Paxton: ""

Passiflora mollissima

Bot. Mag., Nº 4187

Passiflora mollissima
Bot. Reg. for 1846 plate 11
Paxton's Mag. of Bot., vol. xiii, p.25


Tacsonia " a genus of very ornamental climbing plants, with the habit of the Passion Flowers, but easily distinguished from them by the immense length of the tube of the calyx. The name Tacsonia is derived from that applied to one of the species in Peru. There are numerous species in the genus, but only two as yet have been introduced." Jane Loudon Ladies' Flower-garden of Ornamental Greenhouse Plants (1848).
The two species referred by Mrs. Loudon were Tacsonia pinnatistipula Juss. and Tacsonia mollissima H. B. et K. She describes the plant as "not so ornamental as T. pinnatistipula" though of similar growth and thriving best in a conservatory. A native of the tropics of New Granada, it grows at an altitude of nine to eleven thousand feet, thus suited to a temperate climate. When grown in a stove the blossoms fall off without expanding.

Found by Humboldt at santa Fè de Bogota, and Lobb in woods near Quito. Raised from seeds sent to Veitch at Exeter. (1844).

An important identifying characteristic of this species is the presence of 12 green glands which stud the purple petiole.


Photograph of genuine Passiflora mollissima from Mobot

The plant generally grown under this name in Portugal is a hybrid.

Synonyms
Murucuja mollissima Spreng. or Murucuia mollissima (Kunth) Spreng.
!Passiflora tomentosa Lam. invalid name
Passiflora tomentosa var. mollissima (Kunth) Triana & Planch.
Tacsonia mixta subsp. tomentosa (Cav.) Mast.
!Tacsonia mollissima Kunth invalid name
Tacsonia mollissima var. glabrescens Mast.

Passiflora actinia

Passiflora actinia Hook.

Passiflora actinea, as spelled by Walter Oates, and many others, is what is known in botanical jargon as a lapsus: an incorrect name that entered into common usage by a slip of the pen. Sometimes the original citation is itself wrongly spelled - as for example Wisteria which commemorates Carl Wistar - but the rules of the game preserve original errors through priority.

This passion flower is another plant from the Organ Mountains of Brazil (near Rio de Janeiro). It was introduced by Lobbs who sent it to his employer Veitch at the Exeter nurseries. It first bloomed in November 1842. The name alludes to the resemblance of the flowers to a sea anemone.