The passion flower is common in British gardens, often climbing up walls or trellis. Not originally native to Europe, hailing from South America, it has become a perennial delight in our gardens.
Join me as I dive into the flower of this plant and in the future where I will post about the fruit.
The Stigma of the plant is a beautifully rich purple with an almost iridescent quality and represents the outermost part of an intricate flower head.
When Christian missionaries discovered Passiflora in South America, they used the components of the flower head to describe the Passion of Christ as described in the gospels of the Bible:
- The ten petals represent the faithful apostles, excluding Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus and St. Peter, who denied him.
- The three stigma represents the three nails driven into Jesus' body, one through each hand and one through his feet.
- The pointed leaves of the plant represent the lance used to peace Jesus' side.
- While the tendrils of the plant represent the whips the Romans used to torment Jesus.
- The five anthers represent the wounds in Jesus' body, two in the hands, two in the feet and one in the side from the lance.
Interpretations vary, and different authors have described other parts of the plant to represent other elements of the passion of Christ. For example, the body of the flower head represents the Holy Chalice.
The numerous blue filaments radiating out from the centre of the flower head represent the crown of thorns placed on Jesus' head.
For me, this flower head represents consistency; the previous owner planted it before we bought this house 15 years ago, and it grows under the patio slabs meaning it has proven unkillable despite hot weather and occasional neglect.
Taking these macro shots, I noticed that there were elements of the flower I had never seen before - the ruby red filaments at the base of the longer corona filaments. And the ovary between the Stigma and Anther.
It was quite a challenge for me to capture the flower in macro, so I used Focus Stacking and High Dynamic Range photography with the Arsenal 2 to try and capture as much of the plant as possible in focus.
The Passion Flower has a beautiful flower head with so much intricate detail to investigate through the end of the Macro lens. If I have earnt your upvote, I appreciate your support. If you want to see more of my work, give me a follow; I regularly upload new photos.
