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Maypop (purple passionflower)
Habit (mature) · Dr. Thomas G. Barnes, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Limited coverage
Maypop (purple passionflower)
Passiflora incarnata
A fast-growing, tendril-climbing native vine of the eastern United States, named "maypop" for the fleshy egg-shaped fruits that pop underfoot. Its intricate 2.5-inch fringed flowers — white-to-lavender petals beneath a pinkish-purple filament crown and a raised central androgynophore — are precisely engineered for large carpenter bees. Woody in warm-winter climates and herbaceous (dying to the ground) where winters are cold, it climbs to 6-8 feet on a trellis and produces edible yellowish maypops in fall.
Native: 23 US states
Review: Source-backed
Climate fit: broad (74/100)
Pollinator
Structure
Edible
Light
Full sun / Part shade
Water
Moderate water
Mature size
72-96" tall · 48" apart
Hardy in zones
5a-9b
very cold to frosty winters
Summer heat range
Mild-Extreme
mild to extreme summers Interim Plotwright tier until the plant AHS range is authored.
Native in Illinois
Yes
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A documented larval host for the Gulf fritillary — specialist wildlife that depend on plants like this to reproduce.
Wildlife relationships
Cold hardiness
Now
Zone 6b
USDA
Chicago, IL · 1991-2020 average annual coldest day
Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer
Well-suited
2050
Zone 7b
Plotwright
Your zone + climate-model shift · SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry)
Well-suited
In plain terms: cold winters — coldest nights typically around -3°F.
✓
Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Loading current AHS heat-zone and plant heat-fit data at your coordinates…
Where this plant fits
Suitable across 41 ecoregions — 39 climate-resilient through 2070 · 1 suited today · 1 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.
Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests
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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests
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Arizona Mountains forests
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Atlantic coastal pine barrens
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Blue Mountains forests
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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands
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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests
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Central Tallgrass prairie
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Central-Southern Cascades Forests
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Chilean Matorral
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Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Maypop (purple passionflower) (Passiflora incarnata). Retrieved 2026, June 5, from https://plotwright.garden/plants/maypop
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited — 18 source-backed.
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
Light
Moisture
Hardiness
Heat zone
Size
Spacing
Habit
Design roles
Seasonal interest
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Designer notes
Wikimedia Commons
Photo · Public domain (work of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee
Backs 1 field
Image
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Database
Botanical research database
Community photos
The photos above are our reviewed reference set, curated for accuracy.
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