Pretty pictures: Passiflora spp.

I didn't get variety names for either of these, so I don't know what species or cultivar they are. You know how it is. They're still pretty either way.


It's occurred to me that most (all?) of the plant books I read as a kid, if they mentioned Passiflora, they would go into the whole thing about how the flower is emblematic of the crucifixion of Jesus. As Wikipedia puts it (in somewhat more detail than I would have anticipated):

• The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance.
• The tendrils represent the whips used in the flagellation of Christ.
• The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles (less St. Peter the denier and Judas Iscariot the betrayer).
• The flower's radial filaments, which can number more than a hundred and vary from flower to flower, represent the crown of thorns.
• The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail
• The 3 stigmas represent the 3 nails and the 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (four by the nails and one by the lance).
• The blue and white colors of many species' flowers represent Heaven and Purity.

Which, you know, hey, if you want to look at it like that, more power to you, I guess, but I find it weird that people can find stuff like that meaningful. I mean, when it comes right down to it, these are just some numbers, and some colors, and some fairly common shapes. One could call them "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" flowers, with as much justification:

• The pointed tips of the leaves represent the stakes with which slayers kill vampires.
• The tendrils represent the assorted monsters Buffy also kills, some of whom have tentacles.
• The ten petals and sepals represent the ten characters who were part of the Scoobies during part of the show, but not the entire seven seasons: Oz (seasons 2-4), Tara (4-6), Anya (3-7), Cordelia (1-3), Giles (1-5, 7), Riley (4-5), Andrew (7), Angel (1-3), Spike (4-7), Dawn (5-7).
  
• The flower's radial filaments, which can number more than a hundred and vary from flower to flower, represent the 144 aired "Buffy" episodes.
• The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents the Hellmouth below Sunnydale High School.
• The 3 stigmas represent the core Scooby group (the three characters who were major cast members for all seven seasons), Buffy, Willow, and Xander, and the 5 anthers below them the 5 named slayers with speaking roles (Buffy, Kendra, Nikki, Faith, The First Slayer).
• The red color of some varieties' flowers refer to the blood vampires drink.

Which, yeah, one could quibble with the details of the above (Faith and Joyce don't count as non-core Scoobies? The First Slayer counts as a named Slayer character but the Chinese slayer Spike kills doesn't? Etc.), but that's true of the Passion story too (how can a chalice represent a hammer?). Small numbers, colors, and simple shapes are all common enough things that whatever combination you have, there will be some parallels to something else, somewhere. Doesn't make it meaningful. Flowers have enough responsibilities already, without adding Professor of Theology (or Film Criticism) to the pile.