Legend has it that in 1620 a Jesuit Priest came across the plant we now know as passion flower. Enthralled with its beauty, that night he had a vision likening its floral parts to the elements of the Crucifixion or Passion of Christ. The five petals and five sepals became the ten apostles (omitting Peter and Judas). The three pistils became the nails of the cross; the purple corona (or filaments) was the crown of thorns, and the stemmed ovary was the Lord's goblet.

There are over 460 known species of Passiflora. A marvelous book, Passion Flowers (2nd Edition), by John Vanderplantk, MIT Press, Cambridge, USA, 1996 describes 150 different species and has over 120 colored photos documenting the various species.