Diversity of Passiflora leaf shapes

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Passionvines have the most diverse leaf shapes of any plant family on Earth; a few can be seen here, selected just from subgenus Decaloba. Cryptic camouflage and mimicry of other plants is thought to be very important in Passiflora. The wide variety of leaf shapes has evolved as a defense against heliconiine butterflies. These butterflies are long-lived and form search images in their quest for a host plant for their larvae.