John - Pa. wrote:
Passiflora "Lady Margaret"

A couple of weeks ago my wife brought home a potted Passion Flower
from a trip. Today it bloomed near the top where I could get a shot of
it.

Wikipedia says;
"...'Passion' does not refer to love, but to the Passion of Christ on
the cross. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian
missionaries discovered this flower and adopted its unique physical
structures as symbols of Crucifixion. For example: the 72 radial
filaments (or corona) represent the Crown of Thorns. The ten petals
and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles. The top 3 stigmata
represent the 3 nails and the lower 5 anthers represent the 5 wounds.
The flower has been given names related to this symbolism throughout
Europe since that time...
...In Japan, they are known as clock-faced flowers, and recently have
become a symbol for homosexual youths.
In North America they are also called the Maypop, the water lemon, and
the wild apricot (after its fruit). Native Americans in the Tennessee
area called it ocoee, and the Ocoee river and valley are named after
it."

JD
Canon 10D
EXIF Data Included
e-mail: blissful-wind(at)usa.net

Additional images at;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/john-pa/


Apparently they come in a variety colors and structures, but the cross
remains much the same.
Bob Williams