Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata) Passion flower is not a reference to earthly passions but rather the word Passiflora is derived from passio, the Latin for suffering. Flora comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers and fertility in Roman mythology. Incarnata means “in the flesh”. Passio, or Passion of the Christ, has been used to describe the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death. Spanish missionaries in South America in the 1500s saw in the flower symbols of Jesus’ scourging, crowning with thorns and crucifixion. The three pistils of the stigma became the nails of the cross; the five petals and five sepals became the 10 apostles (omitting Peter, who denied Christ, and Judas the betrayer), the anthers were the five wounds and the purple corona of filaments was the crown of thorns. Passion flower was brought to Europe where it became widely cultivated and was introduced to European folk medicine, becoming a popular traditional phyotherapeutic remedy as well as a homoeopathic remedy for the relief of mild symptoms of mental stress, anxiety and mild sleep disorder. Actions: Anxiolytic, mild sedative, anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory, spasmolytic, antispasmodic, hypnotic, hypotensive, anodyne.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 23:12:00 +0000
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