Confused abt Passiflora lutea

I have a Passiflora lutea in my backyard and was just researching it. Some sources say it is rare, which is what I was told by a native plant enthusiast here, but other sites say it's invasive. This is the first one I have ever seen.

So which is it?

Thanks,
Sherry

I can't see that it would become "invasive" considering the plant is so small (relatively speaking)....I called this a "mini-passiflora" since the flowers are only about 1" diameter....I'm waiting on some seed pods to ripen right now.....all on a vine that probably measures 8-9 ft long total (this is a wild specimen I've found)....I'm looking forward to have a mini-passi climing on something in my garden next year! I don't know how rare it is...but if it is,....so much the better!
I guess.....when you think about it....if you had enough of these growing at one time.....someone could consider it invasive lol! I wouldn't worry about it at all! Good luck you have your own!

Sherry, I typed in Passiflora lutea invasive in the search engine. What I came up with was that it was an alternative for many invasive species.

Willis, the size of a plant has nothing to do with it's invasiveness.

Passiflora lutea isn't invasive here on North American and there isn't even any legitimate references to it being aggressive that I can find. It's endangered in at least one state and threatened in a few others. It is actually an important species in that it is host to Julia Butterflies (Dryas julia), Zebra Longwings (Heliconius charitonius), and Gulf Fritilllaries (Agraulis vanillae).

Although Passiflora lutea is not rare per se, it is no longer all that common in the wild. Good for you that you have one. It's a great plant.

Thanks for the info. I wanted to be sure before I started offering seeds!
Sherry

Thanks for being so conscientious. I don't know if you are aware of this but it's native range is east of the Rockies. Anywhere on the other side of that mountain range and it's an introduced species or rather an exotic.

E, is there a reliable online site that shows a plant's native range? A friend just brought me a Blechnum spicant (deer fern) that he pulled from his sister's property up in the Catskills. I checked the USDA Plants Database and it shows the "plant distribution" as California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Does "plant distribution" translate to "native range?"

I guess once I plant it in my yard, I'm planting an exotic?

Sherry

The Blechnum spicant would be an introduced species if you planted it in your yard. It would also be an introduced species if I planted it in my yard so we're both in the same boat. There are times I want to be a purist and there are times I'll plant species that are indigenous to within a 200 mile radius of where I live. I have no qualms planting non natives up in tight around my house. I will plant western NA species as well as well behaved exotics from other continents in that area around the footprint of my home. We'll never be able to restore our lands to their pre-colonial state although there are those who would have us believe otherwise. Right about now, it's best to focus on trying not to introduce exotics to our properties that have histories of escaping cultivation.

The native range of plants at the USDA site is quite reliable. Granted, you still need to check what's indigenous to your County if you want to be a purist. B. spicant is a western North American native plant, "Interruptedly circumboreal, Blechnum spicant occurs in North America from coastal and south central British Columbia south to California, where locally common, and disjunct in Idaho, where it is known from twenty occurrences".

The Blechnum spicant has no reports of being weedy planted outside of its native range here on this continent. Granted, we may find in the years to come it is as I suppose it is capable of being weedy in the right location but so far it's not an issue. If I wanted it, I'd plant it but lately I've been moving back toward native plants because the critters in the area depend upon them for survival and when I plant a non-indigenous plant, it takes up space that a "wildlife friendly" plant could be growing in.

Try to think of the damage the Eastern Bullfrog has done out west. It's a species that is indigenous to our continent but it's introduction out west is wreaking havoc beyond our wildest dreams. Out west it is an exotic invasive. Same thing can happen with plants only the damage toll is not as readily recognizable.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong........a guy on another forum was asking about Osage Oranges and how it isn't native to IL. According to the USDA site, it's range, which I take as being native since it says native, includes IL. So I said it was native according to the USDA site, then was given a host of other links and I was corrected over there. Osage Orange is introduced and has naturalized in IL, it isn't it's native range. I was always told to use the USDA site with an understanding that it shows naturalized states also, not just it's native range.

Oh yes, that one is very confusing on Maclura pomifera. That plant is not native to Illinois. That plant only has a native range of the southeastern states. You are correct. It is naturalized here. They do need to do something about that because it is definitely a native plant that is being identified as invasive just like Black Locust out of range. I wonder how they correct something like that. I bet they have Black Locust messed up too.