Parts Most Frequently Used: Stems, Leaves, Flowers, Fruit

Flavors/Temps: Above Ground Parts: Slightly Bitter, Drying, Cooling. Fruit: Sour, Sweet, Cooling

Caution: Generally considered safe when taken in recommended does. Some people may experience dizziness, drowsiness, or nausea.

History/Folklore: Passion flower is most associated with treating insomnia and anxiety. Studies suggest that the plant appears to boost the level of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) in the brain. This compound is known for its ability to slow or lower brain activity that may help induce sleep and reduce anxiety. It is gentle enough to calm children or the elderly. The German Commission E has approved the use of passion flower to treat nervous restlessness and exhaustion.

Native Americans have used passion flower as a sedative as well as to treat a variety ailments including wounds, earache, and liver problems. Seeds that were thousands of years old were found in the state of Virginia where the North American Algonkian Indians lived. Early European settlers noted them eating the fruit and began to make use of the healing powers of this plant. Other American Indian tribes used the plant’s roots as a poultice to help heal wounds or as a blood tonic. The Cherokee traditionally boiled and fried the young shoots, mixing them with other edible greens.

A study reported in the Journal of Anesthesia and Analgesia examined the plant’s effect on patients preparing for surgery and found that people who consumed the herb prior to surgery reported less anxiety than those who received a placebo.

Research indicates that the effectiveness of the drug clonidine in treating high blood pressure and anxiety disorders is improved when it is combined with passion flower. The study also indicated that the combination worked better for reducing the symptoms of opiate drug withdrawal, including anxiety, insomnia, irritability, and agitation.

The species P. serratodigitata is being studied for its potential to treat stomach ulcers.

P. incarnata combines nicely with other herbs that can help reinforce the plant’s calming and sedating properties such as valerian and lemon balm.

For treating generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), 45 drops of extract taken daily can be effective for helping to reduce symptoms.

Energetically, passion flower is a downward moving and cooling herb. From the perspective of Oriental medicine, it is a Yang draining or anchoring herb, helping to pull upward rising Yang back down out of the head as well as relieve excess Fire and Heat symptoms associated with Liver Yang Rising or Liver Yang Flaring.

The plant’s anxiety-reducing properties include helping conditions aggravated by anxiety such as asthma, hypertension, or nervous upset stomachs. Some research indicates that extract of passion flower is comparable to the widely prescribed pharmaceutical anti-anxiety agent, oxazepam, which is used to treat the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in some patients.

Spanish explorers learned of the plant from native Peruvians. The plant’s name derives from a reference to the Christian tradition known as the Passion, the name by which the final period in Jesus Christ’s life, which included his crucifixion, became known as. Spanish priests who were first introduced to the plant saw the flower as a physical representation of the crucifixion of Christ. The plant’s three stigma symbolized the nails of the crucifixion, the coronal filaments the crown of thorns, the five stamens the wounds, and the ten sepals the ten disciples (with Judas and Peter being left out due to their turning against Jesus in his final hours). In this way the flower became an important teaching aid for telling the story of Christ to the indigenous peoples.

Passion flower was formerly approved as an over-the-counter sedative in the U.S. This approval was later withdrawn, however, as it was deemed that insufficient studies had been completed for approval to be properly given.

Passion flower has been used in charms and potions to attract friendship and bring peace. The leaves can be placed in a house to reduce discord and bring harmony.

Certain species such as P. edulis and P. caerulea are grown for their edible fruit. The fruit is also used as a flavoring for certain beverages.