Passiflora telesiphe

Description

Passiflora telesiphe is a species of flowering plant in the family Passifloraceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. This is a vine with slender branches. The three-lobed leaves are up to 8 by 11 centimeters. The upper surface of the leaf is dark green, sometimes mottled with white, and the underside is purple. The flowers are solitary or paired with purple-tinged white petals. The filaments are white or purplish and are up to 2.6 centimeters long. The fruit has not been observed. This species is a member of the subgenus Decaloba. This plant was first described to science in 1998. It was discovered in Ecuador during a 1993 observation of local butterfly fauna. A male telesiphe longwing (Heliconius telesiphe) was noted hovering about a plant, and the eggs and pupae of the species were found on it. The new plant was then named after the butterfly. So far this plant is known only from Zamora-Chinchipe Province. It is found in low Andean forest habitat at around 1700 meters in elevation.