cutting grass on the backside of the property and came across these. Any ideas? I didnt plant them. Caterpillars love em

Question

Ellen H · Answer

I think you've got yourself  a maypop.  They are also called passion flowers - the bloom is purple  and quite pretty.  They are native and should be a good host plant for butterfly larvae.

KMS Woodworks · Answer

Living in the desert west we do not have these...I'll wait for someone more local to chime in.

my money is on some variety of gourd...there are dozens of different kinds

Jimmy S · Answer

I will check into that Ms. Ellen.  I would rather have them chewing on this than my blueberry plants.

Sharron W · Answer

@Ellen, YEP! My FIL loved those for the scent, however I didn't know they were also called May pops! and I didn't know they were a native plant! LOL Thanks for the info....do you know if they have to have full fun?

Paul M · Answer

That is a passion fruit, they are delicious. I have been growing them for years and eating them since a was a child. It is a wonderful addition to any garden. They are called maypops in the South and that is that particular varieties only native habitat. There are many other varieties of passion fruit around the world and they are all different. Their scientific name is Passiflora incarnata. Good luck with your good find!!!

Ellen H · Answer

Sharron, I think they really like full sun.  They used to grow all along the roadside on fences in central Alabama back when I was young and riding my bicycle on country roads,

Jimmy S · Answer

thanks everyone..you have piqued my interest.so should i go try and trellis them. There were probably25 caterpillars on them. Will they come back next yr? They are lime green right now..when should i pick them? if they last till ripen

Douglas Hunt · Answer

Jimmy, as Ellen said, maypops are great host plants for butterflies and they do very well on a trellis. And, yes, they will come back next year. They are ripe when they turn yellow-orange.

Jimmy S · Answer

Thanks for everyone's input.  I am anxious to see what they taste like.  I have never come across these before.  Although I hate to get rid of the caterpillars. Maybe we can share.

Angela A · Answer

In GA, as Ellen said in AL, as a child we would see them growing along the roadsides...and right by our homestead as a matter of fact...as children finding something to play with outside, we would throw them at each other b/c they would POP when they hit something hard enough....they were our granades lol!!! good times!!! LOL hey, they were called MAYPOPS....what else were we supposed to do with them????

Vivian S · Answer

I'm curious what kind of caterpillar this is (what butterfly or moth)?

Paul M · Answer

We wait until they fall off most of the time, they are yellow, orange and still have spots of green at that point. They have a sweet tangy taste that is unique and if you let them dry out a bit on the outside until wrinkled the flavor concentrates in the sack around the seed. That inside is a little like a pomegranate in that the juice is around the seed. And the seed can be saved and sowed, I have a ton of them from years of collecting them. If we get a real cold hard winter they may not come back from where they are now and you will have to plant new seed. We have ours on a fence that we use as a trellis and it is a part of our vegetable garden. For the most part they are perennial
 but like I mentioned a hard cold freeze will kill them. They are very easy to plant and since they are native to the area they are very drought tolerant. Good luck!!!

KMS Woodworks · Answer

The hard freeze is what keeps them away from here...last year we a snap to -40

Sharron W · Answer

WHOA!!!!   -40?   That's not weather I'd expect in Alaska!!!!!  Makes me happy I live in the south I'm too old to adapt to those kind of temperatures.....

Juanita J · Answer

I googled maypop and got a very interesting article about the Frittilaria butterfly which is what the orange caterpillars are when they emerge from their cocoon. They feed on the leaves of the passion fruit vine until it's time to cocoon themselves. I hope this helps.

Nelli Walker · Answer

That is more commonly called a 'passion fruit'. The beautiful purple flower is called 'The crucefiction flower because of the cross in the center..

Jean Whittington · Answer

Passion fruit, the purple blooms is spectacular!

Deb K · Answer

Hello, hope this helps you.

https://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Purple_Passionfruit_341.php

Bianca · Answer

It's cute 🥰

cutting grass on the backside of the property and came across these. Any ideas? I didnt plant them. Caterpillars love em

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cutting grass on the backside of the property and came across these. Any ideas? I didnt plant them. Caterpillars love em

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