Revision of Passiflora Subgenus Decaloba ... - Passion Flowers

CHAPTER 8
TAXONOMY
Description of Passiflora
Passiflora L., Sp. Pl. 955. 1753. TYPE SPECIES (designated by N. Britton and
A. Brown, 1913, Ill. Fl. N. U.S., ed. 2, p. 565): Passiflora incarnata L.
Herbaceous or woody, perennial (rarely annual or with annual shoots from
perennial roots), tendril-climbing vines or lianas, rarely shrubs or small trees
lacking tendrils; usually containing cyanogenic glycosides having a
cyclopentenoid ring system; glabrous to densely pubescent with simple
trichomes, rarely gland-headed. Stems terete to lobed or sharply angled,
occasionally with anomalous secondary growth, the shoot apex erect to
cernuous. Leaves alternate (very rarely subopposite to opposite), simple (rarely
palmately compound), petiolate, often with variously shaped and positioned
extrafloral nectary glands on the petiole; laminas unlobed or lobed, often
heteroblastic, pinnately to often palmately (rarely pedately) veined, variegated or
not, entire to serrate, peltate or not, often bearing small nectaries associated with
marginal teeth or indentations, or abaxially submarginal, or abaxial between the
major veins. Stipules setaceous to foliaceous, persistent or early deciduous,
entire to serrate, sometimes the margins with glands, occasionally cleft. Tendrils
axillary, simple (rarely compound), representing a modified flower stalk of the
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