The stems can be smooth or pubescent; they are long and trailing, possessing many tendrils. Leaves are alternate and palmately 3-lobed and occasionally 5-lobed, measuring . They have two characteristic glands at the base of the blade on the petiole. Flowers have five bluish-white petals. They exhibit a white and purple corona, a structure of fine appendages between the petals and stamens. The large flower is typically arranged in a ring above the petals and sepals. They are pollinated by insects such as bumblebees and carpenter bees, and are self-sterile. The flower normally begins to bloom in July. The fleshy fruit, also referred to as a maypop, is an oval yellowish berry about the size of a hen egg; it is green at first, but then becomes yellow as it matures. As with other<unk> s, it is the larval food of a number of lepidoptera species, including the zebra longwing, the Gulf fritillary, the crimson-patched longwing, the Julia, the Plebeian sphinx, and the variegated fritillary. In many cases its fruit is very popular with wildlife. The egg-shaped green fruits 'may pop' when stepped on. This phenomenon gives the<unk>  its common name, as well as the fact that its roots can remain dormant for most of the winter underground and then the rest of the plant "pops" out of the ground by May, unharmed by the snow. The maypop occurs in thickets, disturbed areas, near riverbanks, and near unmowed pastures, roadsides, and railroads. It thrives in areas with plentiful sunlight. It is not found in shady areas beneath a forest canopy. The Cherokee in the Tennessee area called it ; the Ocoee River and valley are named after this plant, which is the Tennessee state wildflower. For thousands of years the maypop was a staple food and medicinal plant for the Cherokee and to this day it is a revered piece of their heritage. This, and other passionflowers are the exclusive larval host plants for the Gulf fritillary and non-exclusive for the variegated fritillary butterflies.
Passiflora incarnata
Arnebia densiflora
Saphena varix
Mitragyna speciosa
Arcanum joviale
Arnica montana
Piedraia hortae
Cedecea davisae