Passion flower plant grows well in high elevation area of the Arfak mountains. As a vine, plant of passion flower needs a tree or tall shrub plants to grow. I like eating passion fruit. The texture of the fruit is like jelly. It has got sweet taste. The passion flowers look very beautiful but they don't have any strong fragrant. One day, I accompanied two Dutch tourists on a hiking and birding trip in the Arfak mountains. While walking around the guesthouse of Kwau village, I saw a passion vine with some flowers hanging on it. I walked closer to make some pictures but it was quite difficult to do it. All the flowers were facing the ground. So, I had to pull the LCD screen of my Nikon Coolpix P500 camera and tilt it to face my face whereas the lens was aimed at one of the flowers. I pressed the shutter button several times in different settings to see the best one. The result is shown below:
Some buds were hanging on the vine waiting for the right time to bloom also as beautiful passion flowers.
The passion flowers can be seen blooming in the Arfak mountains in late September until October. I asked local people whether it is an endemic plant of Arfak. They said, "no. It was brought to Arfak mountains by American missionaries who came to spread the Gospel. The villagers also said that the seeds of the plants were taken from Wamena - a town in the central mountains of New Guinea. I still don't know whether this plant was originally from the area or had also been introduced to Wamena and the central mountains of New Guinea by American the missionaries.
In addition to passion fruit, Arfak mountains have got various species of tropical flowers that look beautiful both in high and low elevation areas. To book a hiking, and sightseeing tour in Arfak, you can contact me by my email: charlesroring@gmail.com for detailed itinerary and costs.
Also read:
Pretty Rainforest Flowers
Passion Fruit Flower
