Passion flower. Passiflora, Passion vine. Passiflora incarnata.
Passion Flower. N. F. IV. Passiflora. Passion Vine. "The dried herbage of Passiflora incarnata Linné (Fam. Passifloraceae), collected after some of the berries have matured." N. F.
It is described in the N. F. as follows: "Stems glabrous or slightly pubescent above, striate, from 6 to 8 mm. in diameter, of variable length, woody, hollow, the cavity about one-half the diameter; bark very thin, greenish or purplish; wood very porous and bordered on the inner side by a thin layer of pith; fracture of the wood uneven, of the stem smooth, of the bark coarsely fibrous. Leaves more or less broken in drying, rather thick, glabrous or often pubescent, when entire nearly orbicular in outline, base cordate, deeply three- to five-lobed, lobes ovate, acute, finely serrate, petioles from 1 to 5 cm. in length, with two glands near the summit. Tendrils numerous and closely coiled, Flowers solitary, axillary, peduncles as long as the petioles, usually three bracted; calyx cup-shaped, four to five lobes; lobes linear, imbricated, cuspidate, corona of the fresh flowers purplish; petals four to five, yellow; ovary oblong, stalked; stamens monadelphus in a tube about the stalk of the ovary, separated above, anthers narrow, versatile. Fruit from 4 to 5 cm. in length, an ovoid, many-seeded berry; externally green or yellow, shriveled and wrinkled; seeds flat, ovate, yellowish to brown arilled. Taste and odor slight. Passion Flowers yield not more than 12 per cent. of ash." N. F.
This indigenous plant has been supposed to possess narcotic properties and used in neuralgias, sleeplessness, dysmenorrhea, as well as in diarrhea and dysentery. I. Ott (Medical Bulletin, Dec., 1898) finds that it is a depressant to the motor side of the spinal cord, but increases the rate of the respiration, and that it has very little effect upon the circulation, only temporarily reducing the arterial pressure. Dose, three to ten grains (0.2-0.65 Gm.).
