Photo Essay Photo Essay

Photographer: Peter Jørgensen

Diversity: Passiflora viridiflora

The wide range of floral colors, sizes, and shapes is related to pollination. Passiflora viridiflora, from Pacific coastal Mexico, arose out of an insect-pollinated group of green-flowered species that lack petals and have small dish-shaped flowers. Here the flower is tubular, with a reduced corona. It is hummingbird-pollinated. Its bright red stems may assist in attracting hummingbirds.