Mystery Berry, Solved!
Most of us here in Hawaii know that Bishop Museum is cool, but now there's another reason to love them, Ask a Bishop Museum Scientist. When shown images of a mysterious berry growing along Kapahulu Ave, one of their botanists was quick to help identify it.
Does this plant have hairs on the leaves that when touched give it a foetid (nasty) odor? This give you a hint as to the name of this species! It's scientific name is Passiflora foetida. It has the common name "love-in-a-mist". This species can be recognized by the finely divided bracts and stipules [ed. see markup on the photo]. The flowers are characteristic of Passiflora and the family Passifloraceae - passion flowers. This species is highly variable, and is native to the American tropics and subtropics. This species is a common weed in Hawaii...
...It is related to liliko'i, and the seeds are surrounded by a succulent, edible aril (fleshy thickening of the seed coat). &emdash;Shelley James, Botany, Bishop Museum
Mystery solved, it's the Stinkin' Passion Flower.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Mystery Berry, Solved!.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://maona.net/mt/mt-tb.cgi/862
whoo, now we can all sleep ;) thanks alan!