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Post by tom π on Oct 15, 2020 8:16:28 GMT -5
Maypop (passiflora) is a minor fruit that grows wild in the Southeast. I have it growing on shrubs in the yard. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_incarnataMaypops are hollow, pop when squeezed, and are fun to pop. The consumable part of the fruit is the little sacks of juice that surround the seeds. The hull in quantity is cathartic. Except for an occasionally popping, only this year have I gotten much good from my maypops. I use the leaves in herbal tossed salads and am acquiring a taste for the juice, which is sour until the fruit yellows and wrinkles, at which time it becomes sweet. The fruit gives off a pleasing fragrance and is apparently a high ethylene producer. I put a late green tomato in a box of maypops, and it ripened quickly.
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Post by James on Oct 15, 2020 10:21:04 GMT -5
Interesting. Thanks for sharing Tom.
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maypops
Oct 15, 2020 12:57:31 GMT -5
Post by gardendmpls on Oct 15, 2020 12:57:31 GMT -5
Do they have those gorgeous flowers I remember from Texas passion flowers? I know they are related varieties. I have ordered the plants several times to plant here, but they never grew.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Oct 15, 2020 12:57:49 GMT -5
When I was young, maypop vines were thick and everywhere in fields and roadsides. Us kids had many "maypop battles". One of the neighborhood moms made pie from the fruit, and it was quite good. I recall that it tasted somewhat like apricots. The spidery, purple and white flowers are very nice, too. I've got a couple of them here, out in the back.
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maypops
Oct 15, 2020 13:00:56 GMT -5
Post by breezygardener on Oct 15, 2020 13:00:56 GMT -5
Actually, many of us don't know these as "Maypops", but rather as the fruit of the Passion Flower vine. I've never grown them, although have friends who have. The flowers are pretty, but the plant can easily gets weedy & invasive.
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maypops
Oct 15, 2020 13:13:44 GMT -5
Post by tom π on Oct 15, 2020 13:13:44 GMT -5
the plant can easily gets weedy & invasive. Yes, they can. I have been picking up fruits so more won't seed out.
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maypops
Oct 15, 2020 13:17:41 GMT -5
Post by tom π on Oct 15, 2020 13:17:41 GMT -5
Do they have those gorgeous flowers I remember from Texas passion flowers? Yes, the flowers are similar.
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maypops
Oct 15, 2020 15:28:14 GMT -5
Post by gardendmpls on Oct 15, 2020 15:28:14 GMT -5
If I can get seed or a good plant may try in a large pot on the porch.
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maypops
Oct 15, 2020 17:52:04 GMT -5
Post by tom π on Oct 15, 2020 17:52:04 GMT -5
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maypops
Oct 15, 2020 18:16:32 GMT -5
Post by tom π on Oct 15, 2020 18:16:32 GMT -5
Actually, many of us don't know these as "Maypops", but rather as the fruit of the Passion Flower vine. We country folks are going to say "Maypops" because we are aesthetically challenged and pay little attention to the flowers. No way would we say "Passion Flower" because of its aphrodisiac suggestion. Garden Club ladies would not think of using such a common term as "Maypop", so it depends on which side of the fence you are on, I reckon.
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Post by tom π on Oct 15, 2020 18:59:56 GMT -5
On the first day of school when I was maybe in the second grade, at morning recess there was a maypop vine with a fruit growing on the exercise bars next to the slide. That was my first sighting of a maypop. An older student told me what it was. For that reason maypops remind me of school starting.
Maybe twenty year ago I was out walking and entered a back field and saw deer prancing on their hind legs under a tree. Maypop vines had grown up the tree, and maypops were hanging from the branches.
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Post by Mumsey on Oct 16, 2020 4:38:03 GMT -5
That's a thing I love about this forum, always learning something new. Never heard of "maypops"!
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Post by gardendmpls on Oct 18, 2020 8:43:27 GMT -5
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