The Passiflora Incarnata

Here we have the purple passion flower - one of my favorite local blooms. It’s incredibly intricate, and maybe that’s why I’ve always been so fond of it. I picked this one earlier today while out on a walk. Before heading out, I took some psilocybin gummies, so finding these along the way felt like a small bit of magic.

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This flower, Passiflora incarnata, is actually a South Carolina native - we call it the maypop because of the little green fruits that make a popping sound if you step on them. It’s a climbing vine that pops up along roadsides, fences, edges of fields - wherever it can find a place to reach up and spread out their tendrils.

The purple passion flower is a whole habitat in itself really. Butterflies like the Gulf fritillary and zebra longwing don’t just feed on its nectar, but they need it as a host plant for their caterpillars too.

What’s cool is how far this flower’s relatives reach too. In Paraguay, another species, Passiflora caerulea, is their national flower. It even inspired Ñandutí lace - a traditional craft that mimics the flower’s circular, radiating patterns in delicate embroidery. My partners family are from the country and I find the art form very beautiful.