"I remember finding in the high mountains of Catamarca (Argentina) a highly anthocyanin-containing species at over 3500 m altitude, which combined high winter frost resistance with an excellent aroma of its fruits and which seemed quite capable of being adapted as a cultivated plant." (Bruecher 1977).
This species was Passiflora umbilicata. It comes from the Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. It can be found at altitudes from 1600 m to 3700 m and survives frost and also the cool climate in some areas of Central Europe. This species grows very well in the southwest of England unprotected in the open ground.
The fruit of Passiflora umbilicata is round, between 4 and 7 cm in diameter, with a yellow, leathery shell at full ripeness. It's is tasty. The species, like most Passiflora, is not self-compatible and requires cross-pollination. The plant is very easy to care for and can bloom from May to October. It prefers a cooler climate, but also withstands temperatures up to 40 ยฐC and blooms both in sunny and semi-shaded locations.
- ๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ถ๐'๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ...
The main problem of this species is that cuttings root very poorly and slowly. That's one of the reasons why it's so rare in cultivation.
- ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐
P. umbilicata is very interesting for breeding hardy passion fruit. It has a certain winter hardiness and possibly there are still genotypes in Argentina that are significantly hardier than the plants so far distributed in Europe.
- ๐๐'๐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ต๐๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐
What makes this species particularly interesting, however, is the fact that the species crosses relatively easily with other species to create hybrids. There are now numerous hybrids. Some of the species involved are: P. actinia, P. antioquiensis, P. cincinnata, P. edulis, P. garckei, P. incarnata, P. racemosa, P. tarminiana, P. tripartita var. mollissima, P. tucumanensis, P. sidifolia and P. sprucei.
Interestingly, some of these hybrids are very fertile. An example of a promising hybrid for hardy passion fruit is Passiflora โJuttaโ by Henk Wouters. This cross between P. tucumanensis and P. umbilicata tolerates at least up to -8 ยฐC. It is a fast-growing plant that flowers abundantly and sometimes forms two flowers per leaf. This variety forms fertile pollen and easily produces fruits. P. โJuttaโ bears full and delicious fruits, which become ripe in 45 days.
- ๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ
P. umbilicata can pollinate most species of the supersection Tacsonia and be used as a bridge species:
Various properties such as tolerance for extremely cool weather and self-fertility could be combined from the supersection Tacsonia with strong root formation, good fruit qualities and frost hardiness of species of the subgenus Passiflora.
(Photo credit: Andres Krzisnik)