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The plant has small white flowers and dark fruits - almost black. Seems like a Passiflora subpeltata - but the fruit is very dark - not sure if they started out green as some sites described.

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I'm seeing a lot of articles which say that they contain cyanide, but others that say they are edible. Also sites which say that some fruits are edible when mature.

It tastes very sweet and stains fingers readily. I thought of using it as a cocktail mixer, but I guess that might not be a good idea.

Are these fruits edible or should I stay away from them?

Lorem Ipsum
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Cade Roux
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2 Answers2

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That is Passiflora suberosa, or corky stem passionflower. The fruits are edible when ripe. They can contain small amounts of cyanide when green. Note that this is an invasive weed in some areas.

References:

1. (cabi.org) http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/38805

2. (toptropicals.com) http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/Passiflora_suberosa.htm

3. (weedyconnections.com) http://www.weedyconnection.com/database/corky_passionfruit.html

4. (hort.purdue.edu) https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/nexus/Passiflora_spp_nex.html

5. (regionalconservation.og) http://www.regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/plantdetail.asp?tx=Passsube

6. (levypreserve.org) http://www.levypreserve.org/Plant-Listings/Passiflora-suberosa

7. (backyardnature.net) http://www.backyardnature.net/yucatan/passion3.htm

8. (beingplants.com) http://beingplants.com/ocart/passiflora-suberosa-5-seeds-corky-passion-flower?search=suberosa

9. (onlineissues.wherewhenhow.com) http://onlineissues.wherewhenhow.com/article/Our+Plants+Passion+For+Rain/1689071/205706/article.html

10. (lepcurious.blogspot.com) http://lepcurious.blogspot.com/2008/09/corky-stems.html

J. Musser
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Beware, that does not appear to be Passiflora subpeltata because the fruit are the wrong color. It is a Passiflora, though its dangerous to eat the fruit if it is an unknown variety. Those fruit are way too small to eat anyways since its the pulp inside that is eaten and those would have scant pulp.

Shinyosan
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  • Very good call. Although I read and added the wiki link to the question 2 months ago, I didn't pay attention to the colour of the fruit in the picture. The article very clearly says yellow-green fruits... – Lorem Ipsum Jan 15 '12 at 04:16