Long ago, in the 15th and the 16th centuries, the Spanish Christian missionaries marvelled at the unique structure of the passion flower which, according to them, resembled the symbol of Crucifixion. For them, each and every part of the flower was steeped in symbolic significance. The 72 radical filaments or corona stand for the Crown of Thorns. The sepals and petals which are 10 in number are suggestive of the ten ardent followers of Jesus. While the 3 stigma at the top symbolizes the three nails, the 5 anthers at the lower end are suggestive of the 5 injuries suffered by Christ.

This genus of plant which is botanically called ‘passiflora’ is abundantly grown in the tropical regions of America and Asia. Passion, belonging to the family of ‘Passifloraceae’, is believed to have 500 different species which are found in the forms of vines, shrubs and herbaceous plants.

The flower is known by a host of names. While in Spain the flower is popular by the name of ‘Christ’s thorn’, in Germany it was previously called ‘“mother-of-God’s star’. The North Americans refer to it by the names of ‘Maypop’, ‘water lemon’, and ‘wild apricot’. The Japanese call it the ‘clock faced flower’. In recent times the flower symbolizes homosexuality in Japan.