Yellow Passionflower
Passiflora lutea
Found in woodlands, forests, thickets, maritime forests. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 10–20 feet
- Spread
- 2–4 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
Space about 3 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 11 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- Summer
- Fruiting season
- August to October
Recorded in 56 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.


Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 88 animals.
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Orange-crowned WarblerVermivora celata
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Pine SiskinCarduelis pinus
- Purple FinchCarpodacus purpureus
- Red-bellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Red-headed WoodpeckerMelanerpes erythrocephalus
- Red-shouldered HawkButeo lineatus
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- Ruby-crowned KingletRegulus calendula
- Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
- Rusty BlackbirdEuphagus carolinus
- Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
Who uses this plant?
6CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Passiflora
- Euptoieta claudiaVariegated Fritillary
- Agraulis incarnataAmerican Snout, Gulf Fritillary
- Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
- Paratrea plebejaPlebeian Sphinx, Trumpet Vine Sphinx
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Phidotricha erigens
18BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Passiflora
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Passiflora
- Protandrena passiflorae
Other wasps 2
- Anacrabro ocellatus
- Eumenes fraternus
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Passifloraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 5a–10b
- Flower color
- Cream, yellow or white
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth habit
- Single stem
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- October
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Summer” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition differs)
- Flower color · “Cream, yellow or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Growth habit · “Single stem” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Rapid” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 5a–10b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “10–20 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Leaf retention · “Deciduous” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards differs)
- Soil · “Good drainage; Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; NC Extension Plant Toolbox, Tennessee Smart Yards differ)
- Spread · “2–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Little Passion Flower; Yellow Passion Flower
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

























