Early Spanish and Portuguese missionaries believed each part of the Passiflora represented a different aspect of the passion of Jesus Christ and that is why the plant has come to be called "passion vine."
The stigma are thought to represent the three nails used to nail Christ to the cross. The center column of the flower represents the cross itself. The small violet colored filaments surrounding its base represent the crown of thorns. The five petals and five sepals represent the 10 disciples present at the crucifixion, and the three underleaves represent Christ's resurrection on the third day.

At Butterfly World the Passiflora serves as a caterpillar food source. There you can see one of the largest collections of flowering passion vines in the world.