The Passion Flowers Collection
The genus Passiflora includes more than 465 species, having
almost all a creeping and liana-like behavior. The hybrid species are
several, thanks to the high number of species which can be crossed one
with the other.
Most part of the passion flowers come from
central-southern America, and in particular from large tropical and
subtropical areas going from the Andes chain up to the coasts of the
Atlantic Ocean. Some species come from North America (USA), Australia
or Asia. The introduction in Europe took place during the first half of
the 17th century.
The Collection of the Botanic Gardens Hanbury,
dedicated to the prematurely died Paola Gastaldo - professor of
Pharmaceutical Botany at the University of Genova - currently includes
about forty different passion flowers, all cultivated in earth.
