The National Collection of Passiflora
Flower growing in the garden or conservatory
"Perfect as a Garden flower passiflora are a joy to grow in any flower garden or conservatory easy to cultivate from seed and an absolute joy to watch growing thoughout the gardens cycle".The National Collection of Passiflora is only one of 649 Independent
collections which constitute the
National Plant Collections and cover 400 genera and over 50,000 plants. These collections and the 41 county-based groups are organised by NCCPG (National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens), whose aims are to conserve our very rich botanical heritage, to make it accessible to all those who are interested and to advance our horticultural and scientific
knowledge of plants for amateur and professional alike.
Like fellow collection holders, we are committed to the value of comprehensive plant collections for both decorative and scientific interest. Most genera, especially Passiflora, have yet to be fully investigated for potential natural chemical products for providing environmentally friendly insecticides, herbicides or drugs for pharmaceutical uses, let alone their ecology and phylogeny.
We are currently involved in two exciting projects on Passiflora. We have supplied plant material both for an investigation into Passiflora flavoniods a the University of Mississippi in the USA and for an investigation into the relationship of Passiflora species using the latest DNA sequencing techniques at Reading University, which is supported by a grant fron the NCCPG.
Once again I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support, kindness and gifts of plants, seeds and information.
PS. This Passiflora collection has been given "Scientific Status", which is the most prestigious award given by NCCPG to only 28 of the 649 National Collections.John Vanderplank
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