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Passiflora suberosa

Passiflora suberosa

Linneo

Family: Passifloraceae
Order: Malpighiales
Class: Magnoliopsida
Phylum / Division: Magnoliophyta
Kingdom: Plantae

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Records from Salta (Capital)


Description


Passiflora suberosa is a species of passionflower that is native to the Americas. It is commonly known as corkystem passionflower due to the corkiness of older stems. Other common names include corky passion vine, cork-bark passion flower, corkstem passionflower and corky passionfruit. In Latin America it is called Meloncillo. It is possibly also cryptic and have multiple species in one.

Leaves and stems: It is a creeping or climbing perennial liana up to 6 meters long. It has suberous stems in its lower part, glabrous to puberulent.

The leaves are simple, alternate, entire to three-lobed, with both sides glabrous, shiny green. They are 4 to 12 centimeters long when elliptical and up to 5 cm long and 7 cm wide when deeply lobed, sharp lobes, base rounded to truncated, glabrous to puberulent; petioles 0.5–4 cm long, with a pair of conspicuous and stipitate glands in upper half; linear stipules.

The plant is known for the fact that the leaves on one and the same plant vary greatly in shape and size. Another well-known phenomenon is that the lower part of the trunk becomes corky with aging.

Flowers and fruit: The melliferous flowers are solitary or in pairs, and grow in the leaf axils. Greenish or yellowish in color, they have 5 lanceolate sepals, but no petals. Flowering takes place from late summer to late winter.

The inedible fruit is not hardy and transitions from green to indigo, purple and, lastly, black as it ripens. The glabrous fruits contain a multitude of tiny seeds in a dark blue pulp, which are dispersed by birds.

(Not able to verify original reference(6). Forms .org/.edu reference this particular fruit as edible for people but may not have the best of flavor depending on ripeness.)

Range: Its range stretches from Florida and the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States south through Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean to South America. In 1909, it was introduced in Polynesia and Australia.

It is extremely prolific (up to 1000 seeds per square meter), smothering any vegetation it grows on, including trees. In New Caledonia, it is prohibited to introduce the species into the wild.

Reproduction: Many clones of the plant are self-pollinating. In winter, the plant is hardy down to temperatures around 7 °C. It can be propagated by sowing or cuttings.

This species is a host plant for the caterpillars of the Gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae), Julia heliconian (Dryas iulia), Mexican silverspot (Dione moneta), red postman (Heliconius erato), and zebra heliconian (Heliconius charithonia). It is a larval host plant for the glasswing butterfly (Acraea andromacha) in Australia.

Source: Wikipedia, article Passiflora suberosa. Content adapted from Wikipedia, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Accessed on 17/07/2026.





Geographic distribution


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Species photographs

Last published photographs

Foto
Photography ID: 628327
♂ ♀
  Adult

Salta (Capital)
Salta
Argentina
03/26/2025
Eduardo Vicente Fumarola
Foto
Photography ID: 628326
♂ ♀
  Adult

Salta (Capital)
Salta
Argentina
03/26/2025
Eduardo Vicente Fumarola
Foto
Photography ID: 561657
♂ ♀
  Adult

Salta (Capital)
Salta
Argentina
12/26/2023
Eduardo Vicente Fumarola
Foto
Photography ID: 561656
♂ ♀
  Adult

Salta (Capital)
Salta
Argentina
12/26/2023
Eduardo Vicente Fumarola
Foto
Photography ID: 561655
♂ ♀
  Adult

Salta (Capital)
Salta
Argentina
12/26/2023
Eduardo Vicente Fumarola



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Page 1
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
226683426/03/2025ArgentinaSaltaCentro de la Ciudad de Salta ( Alvarado al 300))), Salta (Capital)Eduardo Vicente Fumarola
193469526/12/2023ArgentinaSaltaCentro de la Ciudad de Salta ( Alvarado al 300)), Salta (Capital)Eduardo Vicente Fumarola
Page 1

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Recommended citation
Please use the following reference when citing this species account.
EcoRegistros. 2026. Passiflora suberosa – Species account. Accessed from www.ecoregistros.org on 15/09/2026.