PASSIFLORA TACANENSIS

Passifloraceae

John Vanderplank

Summary. Passiflora tacanensis Port.-Utl. from Mount Tacaná in south

eastern Mexico on the border with Guatemala is fully described for the
first time with illustrations of flowers, leaves and pollen; its history and
cultivation are provided.

Passiflora L. is a large and diverse genus comprised of mostly

perennial tropical vines or woody lianas, herbaceous climbers,
rarely annuals, a few small shrubs and weak trees. Most climb
by means of axillary tendrils; in a few species the tendrils are
forked and in some they are reduced to a spine or are lacking.
There are around 600 species in the genus, with 574 native to
the Americas and 26 native to Asia and Australasia. A taxonomic
study (Feuillet & MacDougal, 2003) reduced the 23 subgenera
described in E. P. Killip’s 1938 monograph to four subgenera;
subgenus Astrophea (DC.) Mast. with 66 species of rare trees,
shrubs and little known robust lianas is confined to the tropi-
cal regions of South and Central America; subgenus Passiflora
the largest and best known of the subgenera with 265 species,
mostly with large colourful flowers and edible fruit with some
20 or more species of economic importance, is endemic to the
Americas but cultivated throughout the tropics; subgenus Dei-
damioides (Harms) Killip is an obscure subgenus of eight species
that produce flowers on their tendrils; subgenus Decaloba (DC.)
Rchb. is a diverse subgenus of 251 species with small or medium
sized flowers, found mostly in the Americas but with 26 species
endemic to Asia and Australasia. In 2009 Krosnick et al. added a
fifth subgenus, Tetrapathaea (DC.) P. S. Green with three species
of dioecious lianas found in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea
and Australia.
Passiflora tacanensis (illustrated here) is placed in subgenus
Decaloba supersection Cieca (Medik.) J. M. MacDougal & Feuil-
let, a monophyletic group of 20 species found in southern
USA, Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean.
Although Cieca is mostly endemic to the Americas, one member

Curtis’s Botanical Magazine 2020 vol. 37 (1): pp. 144–149

144 © The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2020.
Fig. 1. Passiflora tacanensis. Growing on Mt. Tacaná, Mexico. Photograph: John Vanderplank.

of the group, P. suberosa L. is found throughout the tropics

especially in arid areas of Australia where it has become a
troublesome weed (Figs. 1 and 2).
In 2003 Porter-Utley defined this group as having small
apetalous flowers, a plicate operculum, corona filaments mostly
in two series, and peduncles with two, or lacking, bracts. In her
cladistic analysis Passiflora tacanensis is placed with P. coriacea
Juss., P. sexocellata Schldl., P. mcvaughiana J. M. MacDougal and
P. xiikzodz J. M. MacDougal and can be distinguished from these
species by its comparatively large foliaceous bracts. Porter-Utley
considers P. mcvaughiana to be the most closely related species
on account of their petiole nectar glands, the lack of laminar
nectaries and both species being recorded in cloud forest. She
also considers P. eglandulosa J. M. MacDougal to be a close
relative on account of both species being found on volcanic
slopes in broad-leafed forests, having foliaceous stipules and
morphologically similar leaves.
Although Passiflora coriacea, P. sexocellata, P. mcvaughiana, P.
xiikzodz and P. obtusifolia Sessé & Moc. are similar with linear

© The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2020. 145
Fig. 2. Passiflora tacanensis. on Mt. Tacaná, Mexico. (Detail of fig. 1.).

stipules, glandular petioles and leaf morphology, they all have

two or more series of corona filaments. Whereas P. tacanen-
sis, P. viridiflora Cav., P. apetala Killip and P. lancifolia Desv.
have apetalous flowers, three lobed leaves and one series of
corona filaments, and differ in other morphological features.
Unfortunately P. viridifolia and P. apetala were not included
in Shawn Kronsick’s paper on the evolution of Passiflora sub-
genus Decaloba (Krosnick et.al, 2013) but P. lancifolia was, and is
placed in the same micro clade as P. tacanensis suggesting that
a single series of corona filaments may be more significant in
evolutionally terms than leaf or stipule morphology.
Passiflora tacanensis was first collected by E. M. Martinez in
1987 on Volcano Tacaná on the Mexican Guatemala border

146 © The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2020.
Fig. 3. Passiflora tacanensis. A, half section of flower, ×3; B, flower, adaxial view, ×2; C & D,
leaves with stipules, × 1∕2; E & F, side and polar view of pollen grains, ×300. Drawn by John
Vanderplank from specimens collected on Mt. Tacaná, Mexico.

in southeastern Mexico. On his specimen (Martinez 20782) he

had noted that the flowers were purple, but when Porter-Utley
examined the sheet as part of her revision of Decaloba super-
section Cieca for her PhD dissertation the flowers were missing
but the single specimen did have well preserved fruits. From
the flower remains at the distal end of the fruit she was able to
record several morphological details and measurements of the
flowers that she used in her description of the new species.
In July 2015 the author (J.V.) and Jorge Ochoa visited Vol-
cano Tacaná and recorded P. tacanensis in flower with immature
fruit. Flowers are produced singly or in pairs from the leaf

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node or in long racemes. The flowers always seemed to be well
camouflaged and only became apparent after careful searching.
The flower buds and abaxial portion of the flower are purple
and green but the closed flowers after anthesis are purple as
Martinez recorded. When the flowers are fully open the adaxial
sepals are a dirty mauve-green with yellow corona filaments.
Anthesis is before midday which may have been a contributing
factor to Martinez’s limited description of the flowers. Many
large flowering plants were observed on both sides of the
volcano within the elevations recorded.
Cultivation. Passiflora tacanensis is not in general cultivation
and has little value as an ornamental climber but is interesting as
a novelty. It should be treated like its close relatives P. coriacea, P.
sexocellata and P. obtusifolia which are widely cultivated for their
often beautifully variegated transversely oblong-elliptical leaves
and unusual flowers. They are all easy to grow as pot-plants on a
sunny windowsill or heated greenhouse. A well-drained compost
is essential preferably containing at least one third (by volume)
loam, sharp sand and peat or coconut fiber. All will tolerate high
temperatures of up to 38∘ C (100 ∘ F) and winter temperatures
down to 5∘ C (41 ∘ F) for short periods.

Passiflora tacanensis K.E. Porter-Utley, Brittonia 59 (1): 25–28

(2007). Type: Mexico. Chiapas: Mpio, Unión Juarez, Volcano Tacaná,
1700 − 2700 m, 7 May 1987, E. M. Martinez S. 20782 (holotype MEXU).
Description. Vine, slender to 4 m high, pubescent throughout
with short appressed mostly deciduous hairs. Stem terete or somewhat
compressed. Tendrils terete, 18–25 cm long. Stipules ovate acute to
acuminate, 6.3–7.5 × 2.5–3.5 mm. Petiole bearing one pair of clavate
nectar glands midway or below, 2.3–2.6 cm long. Leaves membranous,
transversely elliptic, three-lobed, 3.8–6.5 × 12.4–18.5 cm, (lateral lobes
acute, central lobe very shallowly obtuse). Peduncles terete, 11–13 cm
long. Bracts absent. Flower buds sagittate, deep purple and green. Flowers
diurnal, borne singly, in pairs or in pairs on a leafless raceme with 5 or
more pairs, small c. 2.4 cm in diameter, mauve-green with yellow and
purple. Hypanthium c. 0.4 cm in diameter. Sepals lanceolate, c. 1.0 cm
long, c. 0.3 cm wide at base, adaxial surface yellow with mauve tint,
abaxial surface green or purple. Petals lacking. Corona filaments in one
series, narrowly falcate c. 0.3 cm long, pale yellow. Operculum plicate,
falcate, purple. Androgynophore c. 0.4 cm long, yellow-green. Staminal
filaments pale green. Ovary globose, pale green with fine hair, c. 0.2 cm

148 © The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2020.
in diameter. Anthers pale green. Pollen yellow, pollen grains elliptical,
zonate, geminate, anastomosing at the poles with six pairs of colpi at
the equator. Fruit a globose berry, deep purple, 15–25 mm in diameter.
Seed asymmetrical, obovate, surfaces reticulate-foveate with an oblique
triangular chalazal beak inclined towards the raphe, 4.6–4.9 mm long,
2.9–3.1 mm wide, 2–2.1 mm deep.
Distribution. Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala, on the slopes of Vol-
cano Tacaná.
Habitat. Cloud forest 1700–2, 200 m on well drained volcanic soils.
Phenology. Only recorded flowering and fruiting from May to
August but the flowering period is possibly much longer.
Conservation Status. Near Threatened (NT) recorded only on Mt.
Tacaná.
Specimens Examined. R. J. R. Vanderplank & Jorge Ochoa 2238/15 (K).
R. J. R. Vanderplank & Jorge Ochoa 2238/15 (NCP).

Acknowledgements. I am indebted to Jorge Ochoa for taking me to

Mt. Tacaná, for his keen eyesight and friendship. My grateful appreciation
and thanks to Sara Edwards for her editorial advice.

REFERENCES
Feuillet, C. & MacDougal, J.M. (2003). [2004]. A new infrageneric classi-
fication of Passiflora L. (Passifloraceae). Passiflora 13(2): 34–38.
Green, P.S. (1972). Passiflora in Australasia and the Pacific. Kew Bulletin
26: 539–558.
Killip, E.P. (1938). The American Species of Passifloraceae. Vol. 19. Publica-
tions of the Field Museum of Natural History Botany Series. pp. 1–613.
Krosnick, S.E., Porter-Utley, K.E., MacDougal, J.M., Jørgensen, P.M. &
McDade, L.A. (2013). New insights into the evolution of Passiflora sub-
genus Decaloba (Passifloraceae): phylogenetic relationships and mor-
phological synapomorphies. Systematic Botany 38(3): 692–713.
Porter-Utley, K. E. (2003). Revision of Passiflora subgenus Decaloba
Supersection Cieca (Passifloraceae). Dissertation Presented to the
Graduate School of the University of Florida for the Degree of Doctor
of Philosophy. Vols.1 & 2. Gainsville, Florida.
Porter-Utley, K.E. (2007). Passiflora tacanensis, a new species of Passiflora
subgenus Decaloba supersection Cieca from Mexico. Brittonia 59(1):
25–28.

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