Passiflora tarminiana
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Banana passionfruit |
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Passiflora tarminiana Coppens & V.E. Barney |
Passiflora tarminiana is a variety of passion fruit. Its single fruits ("banana passionfruits") look somewhat like a straight, small banana with rounded ends, and are called "curuba india" in Colombia, where this plant is a native species. It is an invasive weed, especially on Pacific islands, and has "earned" the nickname banana poka (offal banana) on Hawai'i. The fruits are a favorite food of feral pigs, which help in spreading the seeds. This, combined with its robust growth, causes it to smother native plants.
P. tarminiana is very similar to P. tripartita var. mollissima, and until recently was included in this variety.
[edit] References
- Coppens et.al., "Passiflora tarminiana, a new cultivated species of Passiflora subgenus Tacsonia".