Passion Fruit

Not to be out done by my friend Brad, I too have flowers in my garden.  Yes, it is nearing winter in Australia and I have a passion fruit plant that is a bit out of season but the blooms are beautiful.  The blooms are also very short lived.  There is a story about the name of the  passion fruit. 

The story goes, “When Spanish explored South America they discovered that passion fruit was used in native folk medicine as a sedative. When the Spanish brought the passion fruit to Europe the leaves were used as a sleep-inducing medicine. The name 'Passion' was given by Catholic missionaries in South America. The corona threads of the passion flower were seen as a symbol of the crown of thorns, the five stamens for wounds, the five petals and five sepals as the ten apostles (excluding Judas and Peter) and the three stigmas for the nails on the cross.”