// SPECIES PROFILE · VINE · NATIVE

Maypop / Passionflower

Passiflora incarnata

Maypop produces some of the most extraordinary flowers in North America — intricate purple-and-white fringed coronas an inch wide that look engineered rather than grown — followed by egg-sized green fruits that pop loudly when stepped on (hence the name).

// QUICK FACTS

Family: Passifloraceae
Group: vine
Native range: SE & S-Cent. US incl. eastern OK
USDA hardiness: Zones 5–9
Mature size: 6–15 ft (vine)
Sun: Full sun
Water: Drought-hardy
Wildlife value: Sole larval host for Gulf fritillary, variegated fritillary, zebra longwing
Ecological role: native vine · butterfly host · edible fruit

Maypop / Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) — *Passiflora incarnata*. Photo via Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons.

Field Notes

[ growing · ecology · siting · care ]

Hardy native vine, dies back to ground each winter and resprouts from the roots. Spreads by root suckers — give it a corner. Fruit is edible when the rind wrinkles and turns yellow; tastes like a tart guava.

Why it's on this list: native vine · butterfly host · edible fruit. Part of Rooted Revival's NE Oklahoma plant catalog — natives, ecologically positive non-invasive cultivars, and food crops worth growing in the Tulsa region.

Companion Planting

[ guild · polyculture · cross-layer pairings ]

In a hedgerow or thicket, maypop / passionflower pairs naturally with: downy hawthorn (Crataegus mollis), american beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium), cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), summer grape (Vitis aestivalis), and eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana).

Train maypop / passionflower onto a sturdy host such as a hedgerow shrub or arbor; combine with low groundcovers below.

Photo Reference

// Passiflora incarnata — natural habitat
Photo: alie81 (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)

// Passiflora incarnata — flower & foliage
Photo: alie81 (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)

// Passiflora incarnata — habit
Photo: dangerousbutterknife (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)

// Passiflora incarnata — field view
Photo: dangerousbutterknife (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)