Notice

Colin Mills, compiler of the Hortus Camdenensis, died in late November 2012 after a short illness. As he always considered the Hortus his legacy, it is his family's intention to keep the site running in perpetuity. It will not, however, be updated in the near future.

Passiflora ‘Floribunda’

A Camden Park hybrid, Passiflora kermisina x Passiflora caerulea, described by William Macarthur in a gardening notebook, c.1845.  ‘Corolla 4-5 inches in diameter, sepals greenish brown without, bright red lilac, approaching to crimson, within in two distinct shades of colour.  Petals red lilac, filamentous appendages round throat of tube in several distinct rows, the two lower about 2 inches in diameter, coloured dark chocolate purple and bright blue separated by a band of white.  [Indecipherable word] ?ths light [unclear] purple mottled with green, stigmas brownish green, pollen yellow, foot stalks 3-5 inches, flowers fragrant and of great perfection.  A very distinctive plant of superior growth, flowers early.’  [MP vol. 52].

Horticultural & Botanical History

No additional data.

 

History at Camden Park

Listed only in the 1857 catalogue [T.726/1857].  Macarthur wrote to Loddiges’ Nursery in 1846: ‘I hoped to have sent likewise a plant or two of the beautiful new Passiflora which from its profusion of blossom we have named floribunda.  It has something of the habit of Kermesina but is rather more robust, with flowers in constant succession, of very similar form, but much larger being as much as 5 inches diameter, colour a bright red lilac much more brilliant than that of Careulea-racemosa to which it is very superior in beauty.  It will probably prove to be quite as hardy, with respect to cold being raised by crossing between Caerulea and Kermesina.’  [MP A2933-1, p.147].  It was eventually sent in 1849: ‘The two varieties named floribunda and floribunda minor are fine and quite distinct from their parents. [ … ] If you give floribunda room enough it will grow luxuriantly producing immense leaves and flowers more than five inches across in great profusion.’  [MP A2933-1, p.185].  A plant was presented to the Sydney Botanic Garden by William Macarthur on September 15th 1847 [RBGS AB].

Notes

Published Jan 31, 2010 - 02:15 PM | Last updated Aug 04, 2011 - 04:55 PM

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Family Passifloraceae
Category
Region of origin

gaden origin, Camden Park
Synonyms
Common Name
Name in the Camden Park Record

Passiflora floribunda
Confidence level high