Passionflower, an Herbal Medicine Powerhouse

I first met stunning passionflower as an eighteen-year-old working on an organic farm overlooking the Tasman Sea in spectacular Punakaiki, West Coast, New Zealand. Growing abundantly in lush, overflowing, unmistakable violet vines, the fruit was harvested as a delicious, nutritious edible and celebrated as an herbal medicine star. To this day, I love being in the garden with gorgeous passionflower!

What makes this plant so unique? Several of passionflower’s herbal indications include relieving insomnia, anxiety, pain, irritability with difficulty falling asleep, palpitations, lowering blood pressure, nervous restlessness, tenseness, seizures and stress.

Passionflower, Passiflora incarnata, is a native plant in North, Central and South America. Along with all medicinal native plants, passionflower has been safely applied for thousands of years amongst Indigenous people. For example, the Cherokee include passionflower roots in various medicinal preparations as a dermatological aid, gastrointestinal balance, ear medicine, liver support and pediatric aid. The Houma traditionally apply an infusion of the roots as a blood tonic.

Throughout the entirety of my clinical healthcare practice, I have heavily recommended passionflower as a stand-alone herb as well as blended into custom formulas. I continue to see a huge need for this beauty’s healing gifts to restore health, balance and well-being. There is a significant growing body of research on passionflower’s support for anxiety symptoms, including pre-surgery anxiety, since it is gentle without interacting with general anesthesia. When combined with St. John’s Wort, Hypericum perforatum, the duo assists in relieving depression with anxiety.

I often recommend passionflower during intense times because this plant is incredibly safe with no known contraindications. Passionflower embodies cooling, relaxing, astringent and pungent energetics. The flower essence can be applied toward feeling a deep sense of safety, support in the path toward self-realization and releasing muscular tension. Additionally, passionflower is indicated for helping with drug withdrawal symptoms.

Safety and contraindications: there are no known safety or drug-herbal interaction concerns. Passionflower is considered extremely safe for general use, as well as pregnancy and lactation.

The fruit is a delicious edible and can be eaten raw, crushed into juice or prepared in other lovely ways. The young shoots and leaves are also edible, such as combined with other greens in a salad or cooked in a vegetable sauté.

I hope you enjoy radiant passionflower’s many gifts! 

Cheers to your highest health and well-being,
Whitney

References

American Botanical Council. (2000). Excerpt from Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs. Integrative Medicine Commissions.

http://cms.herbalgram.org/expandedE/Willowbark.html

Gardner, Zoe & McGuffin, M. (2013). American Herbal Products Association’s Botanical Safety Handbook. CRC Press. 

Garrett, J. T. (2003). The Cherokee herbal: Native plant medicine from the four directions. Bear  & Company. 

Hoffman, D. (2003). Medical herbalism: The science and practice of herbal medicine. Healing Arts Press.

Moerman, D. E. (2009). Native American medicinal plants: An ethnobotanical dictionary. Timber Press.

Therapeutic Research Center. (2020, November 16). Passionflower. Natural Medicines Database. https://0-naturalmedicines-therapeuticresearch-com.sclcatalog.muih.edu/databases/food,-herbs-supplements/professional.aspx?productid=871