Here's pics of both edulis fruit.

Hi Karyn
It most probably will keep producing white flowers.
Myles

Well, take cuttings and find out. (*grin*)

The one stem looks so odd with the white flowers tucked in with the regular ones. It looks like it should be a different plant. Unfortunately we had some heavy rain and the blooms got kind of beat up. I'm hoping I have about 2 weeks before i have to cut everything back and move it. I don't know if that will be enough time for the fruit to ripen or not. I also hope that the cuttings i take from the sport will root. It starts about 6' away from the main plant so I won't be able to keep it attached when I cut it back.
Karyn

Karyn,

I'm curious--I understand the need to cut back--but why is 6 ft. too long? You can't make an exception? At least till you get a cutting rooted? I ask because it seems like far too nice a plant to risk.

It's a great flower--has anyone even come forth with knowledge of anything that pure white for P. edulis?

Anyway, I really don't mean to nag--it would just be a shame for it to go away--you haven't even been able to taste it yet. It just sounds like the sort of plant that might be worth just a bit of extra inconvenience, at least for a few weeks until you've rooted it and matured a fruit. In my opinion.

You never know--the mutation could be pleiotropic and include (for some bizarre reason) a poor ability to root. This is a total black box at this point.

Definitely don't throw anything out.

I was able to move most of the plant intact. I posted on the other thread. It wasn't a 6' branch. The branch with the white flowers started about 6' away from the main plant. All in all it was more like 15' of vine that had to be unwound from other plants, including other vines. What a PITA! lol

Great to hear that! It would have been a shame to lose that one.

I understood the 6' part--in which case my question would have been why not save 6' of main vine + 1' of the white-flowered part (or however much). Good to hear you got it all, though.

Have you thought about registering it?

I've read that commercially produced P. edulis (and Myles points this out in another thread) are usually started from seed. Presumably all sorts of weird things must pop up all the time. Is this a common one? With the essentially total absence of pigment? I know that I've asked this before and I don't know if there's been an answer. Actually I just reread the earlier thread and reminded myself--Myles said that white flowers do pop up occassionally. My question is whether this degree of complete whiteness (lack of pigmentation even in the reproductive parts) is normal. I would think that a blooming plant with your fully white blossoms would be a lot more striking than the 'alba' form I linked to in the other thread. I'm not an expert, but as I mentioned before I do personally think yours is the superior form.

Maybe you have already found out, but perhaps someone like Kartuz or Elizabeth at Grassy Knolls can tell you if this degree of whiteness is unusual or if the flower is considered desirable? If so, maybe you could interest them in a cutting (for free) with the stipulation that if they were to decide to sell it they could give you a few plants or something? That way you could preserve it, make it available if it's worth it and maybe even get something for your effort. Obviously, P. edulis is not normally grown (just) for its flowers, but they are nice nonetheless. Just a thought.

Personally, I like the flower a lot from your pictures, but I don't know if those "in the know" think it's really a valuable mutation. That really shouldn't matter, but of course it does. I do suspect there's a significant number of people out there who would like a pure white passionflower--and one that fruits--all the better. I would guess there are many who are not that interested in P. caerulea but really like the 'Constance Elliot' cultivar for example. Or if they have the typical form they may want the other. I bought P. edulis 'Frederick' from GK earlier this year. About a month later I bought 'Nancy Garrison'. Now even though I prefer colored flowers, if I were given a chance at that point to buy one just like 'Nancy' except with pure white flowers, it would not have been a tough choice.

I would guess that registering it might be the key to all of this. I think that Myles' site has a description of how to do this. Just got it--see the link below. It sounds simple. I assume if they don't think it's a worthwhile new cultivar they'll let you know.

Regardless, if you tried to trade/sell cuttings of this plant on this forum I suspect you'd find a lot of takers.

As an aside--have you tasted fruit from this plant (even from normal flowers)? How is the quality?

Here is a link that might be useful: Registering cultivars and hybrids (Myles' site)

I do really like the bloom on this one. M uch more then the one you linked and like you I normally don't care for the white flowers. I've never seriously considered registering anything. I do some crossing with brugs and did end up with a beautiful bi-colored double flower and I'm having a couple people test clones for me to see if it's a stable bloom and how it does in other areas. I guess I should read up on what's involved with passifloras.

I haven't tasted a fruit from the white flower. I'm waiting for it to ripen. The fruit from the regular colored blooms tasted fine, kind of like fruit punch. This vine also has the one oversized fruit on it. At least it's significantly bigger then any of my other edulis fruit. I was able to keep that attached as well when I moved the plant and am waiting for it to ripen.

I just wanted to get a few of these together to see the similarities and differences.

P. caerulea 'Constance Elliot' (from Myles' site):

http://www.passionflow.co.uk/passiflora-constance-eliott.htm

P. edulis alba:

http://www.brazilplants.com/passifloraceae/passiflora-edulis-alba.html

P. edulis 'Norfolk', a flavicarpa hybrid:

http://gkexoticplants.com/images/products/pass-edn-4.jpg

I just now remembered about 'Norfolk'--it's a flavicarpa hybrid--which has pluses and minuses. It seems to be a beautiful flower--again pretty much pure white except maybe more green in the reproductive parts(?). Grassy Knolls sells it--and it's on sale ($9, as part of their 40% off everything, I think). I do highly recommend this seller for both quality of plants and outstanding communications.

Karyn's white P. edulis:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a207/kskbhk/butterfly%20exhibit%2008/GIANT%20MILKWEED/100_2765.jpg

P. incarnata also has an alba form without the dark pigmentation in the reproductive parts:

http://www.tropicamente.it/home/catalogo/cata/o-p-q/Passiflora%20incarnata%20alba.JPG

I really prefer the latter two or three--the purer the white the better for these flowers, in my opinion.

I don't know, of course, whether there are pure edulis f. edulis alba clones that are available. I'm sure it's worth looking into.

Here is a link that might be useful: Passiflora edulis 'Norfolk' at Grassy Knoll

Hi Karen,

I was putting together my previous post when you posted your most recent. And as you can probably tell I remembered that 'Norfolk' is out there while in the middle of what I was writing. Of course an edulis f. edulis will have a different flavor than a flavicarpa hybrid. In Northern California I'm pretty sure I've heard that edulis f. edulis is more reliable, athough the larger fruited hybrids ('Frederick') are commonly sold.

Maybe someone out there can comment on 'Norfolk' regarding growth and flavor. I do like the flowers, although in a different way from yours. GK says it has high quality fruit, but is the vine vigorous, does it set fruit readily, etc.? Yours could be superior for all we know. If yours behaves and tastes like normal edulis I'm sure Elizabeth could give you an opinion.

It sounds like the registration is simple--just provide a photo and a description written in the proper "language". If it's a sport, I would guess that they would want you to get it on its own roots at a minimum, although I could be wrong. It does sound like there's one guy who runs the registry and I would bet if you sent him a picture he could tell you whether it's worth pursuing.