Passiflora spinosa (Poepp. & Endl., 1838: 181) Masters (1871: 630)

Kuethe, J. R., Cornejo, Xavier, Garzón-Suárez, Henry X., Jiménez, Marco M., Wettges, Martin, Magdalena, Carlos, Mejía-Pazos, Nicanor, Flores, Juan Carlos Espín & Decoux, Jose, 2025, Passionflower trees of Ecuador: revising the presence of Passiflora subg. Astrophea (Passifloraceae) and including resolution to the P. putumayensis and P. macrophylla taxonomic complexes, Phytotaxa 697 (2), pp. 147-165 : 164

12. Passiflora spinosa (Poepp. & Endl., 1838: 181) Masters (1871: 630) ( Figure 7f )

Type:— PERU. Loreto: Yurimaguas region, Crescit rara in sylvis provinciae Maynas [Mainas] ad Yurimaguas, 05°54’S 76°05’W, January 1831 (fl.), Poeppig D-2187 (holotype: W 0048822).

Notes:—This species, together with the previous entry are commonly confused or misidentified for each other. A distinguishing trait for identifying Passiflora spinosa , however, is that the petals and sepals are about half the length of the hypanthium, whereas in P. pyrrhantha the sepals and petals are either equal or exceed the length of the hypanthium. This is a trait seen also with the Bolivian P. rusbyi Mast. (1890: 282) , which differs by its lighter orange colour and southern Amazonian distribution. The pollen and corona of P. spinosa are often a pale yellow or very light orange, making them distinctly lighter from P. pyrrhantha . The fruit is globose to ovoid, and often matures to a greenish-yellow colour with deep green markings. Scattered in distribution, P. spinosa seem to be commonly found further out in the Amazon basin, with recent sightings found in Orellana, Sucumbios and Pastaza.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Overview of the Ecuadorean Astrophea. All taken within Ecuador.A) P. trochlearis (by Juan C. Espín F.); B) P. skiantha (by Dawson White); C) P. tina (by Xavier Cornejo); D) P. tessmannii (by Henry Garzón-Suarez); E) P. pyrrhantha (by Xavier Cornejo); F) P. spinosa (by Sebastián Vizcarra).