THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995                 TAG: 9503100092
SECTION: HOME                     PAGE: G10  EDITION: FINAL 
SERIES: WEEDER'S DIGEST
SOURCE: BY ROBERT STIFFLER, GARDENING COLUMNIST 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   50 lines

INDIANS WERE PASSIONATE OVER JUICY TROPICAL FRUIT

AMONG THE MANY juices and juice drinks on grocery store shelves are some that tout passion fruit. That has an exotic, tropical and romantic ring to it, but it's nothing new.

Capt. John Smith, one of the early English colonists, noted that the Indians around Jamestown grew the plant for its fruit. The names mollypop and maypop are derived from the Algonkian word for the plant. The fruits have a Hawaiian Punch-like flavor and are said to be excellent for adding to lemonade.

The fruits turn from green to yellow when ripe. If allowed to ripen and drop from the plant, even the outside of the fruit will be sweet enough to eat. Mollypop can be grown over a fence, in a flower bed, over shrubs, on a trellis or lamp post.

Maypops, another name for the fruit of the passionflower, is the Anglicization of a Virginia Indian tribe's word for maracock or rattlefruit, so named because the gourd-like fruit seeds rattle when dry.

The maypop native to this area is Passiflora incarnata and has been cultivated probably more for its horticultural value than the edibility of its fruit. Its bloom is unsurpassed in delicate lavender and white. The vines can be found throughout the Southeast in areas of filtered sunlight, plenty of water and reasonably fertilized, well-drained soil. Don't be surprised to find one blooming in an uncultivated area.

During the summer, the green, lemon-sized fruit contains many seeds, similar to pomegranate. Around each of the many seeds is a fleshy pulp that tastes slightly sweet, yet sour.

Besides its ornamental use and slight value as an edible, wild fruit, Passiflora incaranta once held a place in the world of medicine. An extract of passionflower, derived from the flowers and fruiting tops of the plants, has a slightly soothing narcotic effect and was used to treat tension, insomnia, fatigue and muscle spasms. It is not considered a safe drug in the United State, although it is an ingredient in some mixtures marketed in Europe.

They root underground by stolons, and the fruit drops to produce new vines, so once you have passion vines, you may have them the rest of your life. They are one of our unusual native vines, so if you have plenty of room, they're easy to grow and worth a try. by CNB