Banana passionfruit | |
---|---|
Passiflora mixta | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malpighiales |
Family: | Passifloraceae |
Genus: | Passiflora |
Supersection: |
Passiflora supersect. Tacsonia (Juss.) Feuillet & J.M.MacDougal (2003) |
Type species | |
Passiflora mixta Lam.
| |
Species | |
See text | |
Synonyms | |
Banana passionfruit (Passiflora supersect. Tacsonia), also known as taxo and curuba, is a group of around 64 Passiflora species found in South America. [1] [2] Most species in this section are found in high-elevation cloud forest habitats. Flowers have a cylindrical hypanthium.
P. tarminiana and P. tripartita thrive in the climate of New Zealand. They are invasive species since they can smother forest margins and forest regrowth. It is illegal to sell, cultivate and distribute the plants. [3]
Banana passionfruit vines are now smothering more than 200 square miles (520 km2) of native forest on the islands of Hawaii and Kauai. Seeds are spread by feral pigs, birds and humans. [4] [5] The vine can also be found all across the highlands of New Guinea and in Tasmania.[ citation needed]