Passiflora Lutea -- the diminutive super power vine

 You know it sounds familiar...

Passiflora Lutea shoots in early spring @jenniferwester

Who's ever heard of Passion fruit? (ME!)

Well this is....not it. 

But it is a Passionflower vine, and one of only two native to North Texas at that. And it has some pretty insane qualities, like scientifically backed sedative abilities to aide in remediating insomnia and a beautiful berry that makes for an incredible dye!

Not to mention it's funky little cake-tier flowers...

Passiflora Lutea blossom illustration by @jenniferwester

So here's how to access it's crazy little powers if you, like me, find it sprouting up all over your clay and limestone hillsides:

For the health benefits, make a tea or decoction!

Many different authors note research dating back to the 1800s regarding Passiflora vine's ability to aide in relaxation. I'm not a doctor and don't profess to be one, so I'll reference a variety of citations I've found online to support this statement like this Mount Sinai article. As you'll notice when doing your own research, most authors speak of Passiflora Incarnata (conveniently the other native passiflora to North Texas) but research seems to say support the interchangeability between these two species when it comes to their sedative and relaxation effects as stated here by Steven Foster .

Passiflora Tea
Steep passiflora leaves -- dried or fresh -- in hot water for 6-10 minutes.

Sweeten if desired.

Passiflora Tea can also be made from the flowers of the passionflower vine apparently but site seem to indicate that the flowers, stems and leaves are used for different medicinal purposes so I'll have to do more research to understand what those application differences would be.

As an artistically useful plant, Passiflora lutea packs a punch not delivered by the Passiflora incarnata specimen: ink berries!

Passiflora Lutea sketch by @jenniferwester

Use the ripe fruit of Passiflora Lutea for dyes, paints, and inks by simply picking and brewing up your desired medium! Here is a sample of an steel wool mordant prepped wool I dyed in a quick study last summer next to a simple water prepped wool (no mordant << the fancy word for pretreatment that typically simply includes presoaking the fibers to be dyed in a metallically contaminated water, such as one with rusted nails or steel wool dissolving into it).

Passiflora Lutea Berry Dye test examples by @jenniferwester

To make a watercolor like wash, simply paint directly from the dye stew or add your gum arabic and reduce to make something more concentrated to act as ink. I'll post a ratio recipe as soon as I've done a few more experiments in the color ranges possible with this simple yard find!

And if you still need a reason to fall in love with Passiflora Lutea:

In the wildlife context, Passiflora Lutea is a major source of food for many butterfly species, including the Julia Heliconican, Mexican & Gulf fritillaries butterflies, and Zebra & Crimson-patch long-wing butterflies according to the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower database.

Passiflora Lutea illustration by @jenniferwester