Passiflora lutea (Yellow Passionflower)

Yellow Passionflower (Passiflora lutea)

Height, Spread: 10-20 ft, 2-4 ft

Water/Soil: Moist-occasionally dry, well-drained, high organic matter

Light: Full sun-part shade

Bloom: Summer, golden saucer-shaped flowers

Native Range: Eastern North America

Qualities: Attractive to pollinators, Wildlife resource, NC Native, Deer resistant

Notes: Perennial herbaceous vine commonly found in moist-mesic hardwood forests statewide in NC. An important wildlife resource, it is the host plant for the Gulf Fritillary butterfly (Dione vanillae), the Zebra Heliconian butterfly (Heliconius charithonia), and the Variegated Fritillary butterfly (Euptoieta claudia). It is attractive to pollinators and supports the specialized native bee Anthemurgus passiflorae. Birds and small mammals will eat its berries. It is less aggressive than its sister species, the Purple Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), and looks wonderful climbing over a fence or trellis in a pollinator garden.