Help me ID this fruit. (Answer: wild passion fruit, passiflora incarnata)

Does anybody know what this fruit is? I found It growing in my yard. It grows on a vine like a melon or a squash. It is about the size of a lime and smells like pineapple. I've never seen this.

Is it passion fruit ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_edulis

Looks to be a Wild Passion Vine.

Sell me some seeds!

Most certainly is! Lucky you! I grew up picking and eating wild ones in the mountains of Hawaii. Made my mouth water seeing the pictures, lol

Yes!!! I love passion fruit juice. I have never actually seen what the fruit looks like and had no idea it grew in Texas. Im certainly gonna save some seeds. There is something causing damage to the leaves. Ill take some pictures and maybe yall can help me keep this plant thriving.

I looked around the plant at different times today and found leaf foot nymphs some tiny orange beetles and little black cone shaped bugs. The nymphs were easy to manage since they hang out with eachother. The little beetles flew away any time I got close. The little black bugs assended on the flowers at dusk, there were like fifty on each flower. I shook the flower in a jar and they all fell in. Im not sure what the best thing to do with these bugs. I was thinking about using DE powder, but my daughters have been loving the recent influx of passion butterflies, which we all thought were monarch untill today. We learned a lot today. any ideas on how to control pests without effecting the butterfly population or should I leave it all alone and let it manage itself???

I am in zone 6/7 in Boston,MA. I wish I was able to start eating passion fruit like you.
If I am lucky I will get to eat a few in late October/November.
Where are you located obviously somewhere warmer than Boston?
Passionfruit are hardy, nah invasive, so I would not worry too much about "protecting" it.
The one that I have "maypop" which should really be called junepop/julypop, because that is when it pops out of the ground.
It will dieback to the root and in summer sprout back up.
A single plant will give you 6 or so sprout where the vine was last year and another 5 or so sprout 7 or so feet away.
In more tropical location you could cut down 80% of the tree and it will keep on going.

Im in Texas near Houston. I grew up in the north east. I dont miss that climate at all...

Welcome Ej, those flowers are amazing! I think the passionfruit is spectacular in every way

Ej Cosme wrote: There is something causing damage to the leaves.

What does the damage look like? I find passionfruit to be quite tough, managing a fair bit of pest pressure if it gets enough to eat and drink.
Do you have snails? Mine are very fond of passionfruit (and basically everything else!)

Ej Cosme wrote: little black cone shaped bugs (...)The little black bugs assended on the flowers at dusk, there were like fifty on each flower. I shook the flower in a jar and they all fell in. Im not sure what the best thing to do with these bugs

While I'm unfamiliar with your critters, my black passionfruit flowers attract hordes of insects, including zillions of tiny, wiggly black guys. I see them on many species' flowers and I'm pretty sure mine are nectar/pollen eaters.

I dont have any snails around here, if I do they arent prolific enough to ever see them. Ill post a picture of the leaf damage in a bit.

This is what the leaf damage looks like

Not sure what is eating your passion fruit. General suggestion not addressing specific munchers... Make a garlic / onion solution and spray the plant with it ... sometimes this wins, sometimes not!

First guess as to damage is flea beetles judging by appearance. Also, is likely passiflora incarnata if you are in the US north of middle florida. Good, fruit has MAO inhibitor properties, making it a relaxing antidepressant. Also, unlike say pharma mao a/b inhibitors don't worry about eating a bit of tyramine, the santo daime drink ayahuasca without special diet so the harmine/tyrosine thing seems a bit of a myth.

S Bengi wrote:I am in zone 6/7 in Boston,MA. I wish I was able to start eating passion fruit like you.
If I am lucky I will get to eat a few in late October/November.
Where are you located obviously somewhere warmer than Boston?
Passionfruit are hardy, nah invasive, so I would not worry too much about "protecting" it.
The one that I have "maypop" which should really be called junepop/julypop, because that is when it pops out of the ground.
It will dieback to the root and in summer sprout back up.
A single plant will give you 6 or so sprout where the vine was last year and another 5 or so sprout 7 or so feet away.
In more tropical location you could cut down 80% of the tree and it will keep on going.

I had some of these Maypops (Passiflora Incarnata) come up in my yard near a fence a few years ago and have been encouraging them ever since.
There seem to be twice as many plants come up every year.
They are just now starting to flower here in North Georgia at my place.

Some friends of mine nearby have these growing in their yard, but they refuse to even taste them, somehow they got the idea that they were poisonous,
and even if I pull a fruit off the vine and eat it right in front of them, they still don't even want to try it.

Anyone that has ever drank "Hawaiian Punch" would recognize this flavor immediately.

I personally love the exotic flowers and would grow these even if there wasn't a tasty fruit.

I havent seen them turn yellow not sure when they are ready to pick. I found one that fell off the vine I'm going to wait a couple days then open it to see if they are ripe.

I forgot to mention the green anole lizzards have moved in and are helping keep the bugs away.

The holes look like beetle damage.
Stir up the ground, see if you can spot some beetles. Bright colors and metallic looking would be likely be flea beetles.
Plant radishes.

I havent really seen many beetles. I've only seen little orange beetles that flew away or jumped off as soon as I got too close. Ill try to sneak up and see if I can catch one to get a good description.

Ej Cosme wrote:I havent seen them turn yellow not sure when they are ready to pick. I found one that fell off the vine I'm going to wait a couple days then open it to see if they are ripe.

Yes, when they start looking yellow, generally they are ripe enough.

@ Ej

The yellow type, when it has no green is ready to eat. The purple type when deep purple and wrinkly.