Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Cultivation Naturalised Distribution Habitat Habit Distinguishing Features Stems and Leaves Flowers and Fruit Reproduction and Dispersal Environmental Impact Legislation Management

Scientific Name

Passiflora tarminiana Coppens & V.E. Barney

Synonyms

Passiflora mollissima (Kunth) L.H. Bailey (misapplied)

Family

Passifloraceae

Common Names

banana passion flower, banana passion fruit, banana passion vine, banana passionflower, banana passion-fruit, banana passionfruit, banana poka, passion-flower vine, pink banana passionfruit

Origin

Native to tropical South America (i.e. Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela).

Cultivation

This species is cultivated, particularly in temperate regions, for its showy flowers as well as its edible fruit.

Naturalised Distribution

This species is becoming widely naturalised in south-eastern Australia (i.e. it is naturalised in the coastal districts of eastern New South Wales, in Tasmania, in southern Victoria and in south-eastern South Australia). Also sparingly naturalised in south-eastern Queensland.

Naturalised overseas in eastern Africa, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, New Zealand and on La Réunion.

Habitat

A weed of watercourses (i.e. riparian areas), closed forests, forest margins, open woodlands, waste areas and plantation crops in temperate and occasionally also sub-tropical regions.

Habit

A vigorous climbing plant growing up to 20 m into the forest canopy, or scrambling over lower vegetation.

Distinguishing Features

• a vigorous climbing plant with and hairy younger stems.
  
  
• coiled tendrils are borne in the forks of its alternately arranged leaves.
  
  
• its leaves have three pointed lobes with toothed margins and softly hairy undersides.
  
  
• its large pale pink flowers (about 6 cm across) hang downwards and have a long greenish-coloured floral tube.
  
  
• its oval or slightly elongated fruit (7-14 cm long) turn yellow or pale orange when mature.
  

Stems and Leaves

Its younger stems are rounded (i.e. terete) and hairy (i.e. pubescent). Coiled tendrils are borne in the leaf forks (i.e. axils).

The alternately arranged leaves (7-16 cm long) are deeply three-lobed and borne on hairy stalks (i.e. pubescent petioles) 1.5-4 cm long. They have toothed (i.e. serrate) margins and the lobes are pointed (i.e. acuminate). Their upper surfaces are hairless or almost hairless (i.e. glabrous or sparsely pubescent), while their undersides are softly hairy (i.e. pubescent).

Flowers and Fruit

The large pale pink flowers (about 6 cm across and 9-10 cm long) are borne singly in the leaf forks on stalks (i.e. peduncles) 3-10 cm long. These flowers hang downwards (i.e. they are pendent) and at the base of the each flower are a pair of bracts (3-4 cm long and 2-3 cm wide) that can be mistaken for sepals. The five sepals and five petals are all very similar in size (4.5-6 cm long and 1.2-2.5 cm wide) and colour. Their bases are joined together, forming a very long and narrow greenish-coloured floral tube (i.e. hypanthium) 6-8 cm long and 7-10 mm wide. Each flower also has five stamens and a hairy ovary topped with three white styles ending in green stigmas. Flowering can occur throughout the year.

The fruit is an elongated or oval (i.e. ellipsoid) berry that turns from green to yellow or pale orange in colour as it matures. These fruit (7-14 cm long and 3.5-4.5 cm wide) are hairy (i.e. pubescent) when young and contain numerous seeds in an orange-coloured pulp. These seeds are reddish-brown when dry with a patterned surface texture (i.e. they are reticulate).

Reproduction and Dispersal

This species reproduces mainly by seed, which are dispersed by birds and other animals (e.g. pigs and foxes) that eat the fruit.

Environmental Impact

Banana passionfruit (Passiflora tarminiana) is regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales and as a potential environmental weed or "sleeper weed" in other parts of southern Australia.

Legislation

Not declared or considered noxious by any state government authorities.

Management

For information on the management of this species see the following resources:

• the Banana passionfruit page on the South Coast Weeds website at http://www.esc.nsw.gov.au/Weeds/index.asp.