Passiflora caerulea (blue passionflower, "Tokeiso")

Japanese name: トケイソウ （時計草）
Scientific name: Passiflora caerulea

[Overview]
An evergreen woody climber.
The vines grow to 15–20 m and become woody.
The leaves are simple and alternate, 10–18 cm long, deeply palmately divided into 5–9 lobes.
The leaf margin is entire.
At the base of the leaf there is a tendril 5–10 cm long, with which it twines around other objects.
Flowers about 10 cm in diameter are borne singly in the leaf axils.
The flowers have 5 sepals and 5 petals, white to pale purple, and the many thread-like coronal filaments inside are conspicuous.
The filaments are purple at the base, white in the middle and blue at the tip.
The 5 radially spreading stamens and the 3 stigmas are large and conspicuous.
The fruit is an elliptic berry 5–6 cm long that ripens to orange.

[Uses]
In Brazil it is used as a folk remedy for cough, headache and insomnia, and in China the whole plant is used as a painkiller.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by cuttings.
It can overwinter outdoors in warm regions without frost.
It prefers sunny, well-drained soil, and should be protected from cold winter winds.
Take care not to overwater; for potted plants, from spring to autumn water thoroughly when the soil surface dries, and keep it on the dry side in winter.
For plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless sunny weather continues and the soil dries out.
During the flowering period, buds and flowers may drop if it runs short of water.
From spring to autumn, apply slow-release chemical fertilizer once every 1–2 months.
The vines grow vigorously during the growing season, so to keep them from tangling, it is good to train them and prune overgrown branches once every 1–2 weeks.
Pests and diseases include seedling damping-off, aphids and scale insects.

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