maypops

The one on the left is the maypop fruit/seed the maypop fruit/seed are from our garden and on the right is the maypop flowers which were in Mrs.Stava’s butterfly garden

What are maypops?

Maypops are a type of passion fruit. They are edible and smell very sweet. They have a green soft skin and a mushy seed pod inside. They grow on a large vine with purple flowers.

How did we get them?

 When the habitat team, along with the education committee was out cutting down extra milkweed, they decided to cut down some of the passion vine. The passion vine had fruits on it called maypops. Each member of the team grabbed a few. When they got back in, they cracked a couple open.

What do they taste like?

Maypops taste extremely sweet but also sour. They have small seeds in them that have a great taste. You can also eat the flower. When they are ripe they are wrinkly on the outside and easy to pick. I tried a maypop that I picked. The seeds were very crunchy and the seed pods were very sweet. The one that I picked was not ripe.

What are they used for? 

The petals of the flower stand for the disciples of Jesus.  There are 10 petals symbolizing the disciples that kept their trust in the Lord. So Judas and Peter aren’t one of the petals. There are 3 stigma representing the 3 nails that held Jesus up on the cross. The five anthers represent the 5 wounds on his side, hands, and feet. The filament represents the crown of thorns. The leaves with 3 points represent the Holy Trinity. The vine represents the attachment God has with us.

Fun Facts\

The word maypop means small fruit that pops loudly when crushed or opened. Maypop flowers come in pink and purple, they are great pollinators that grow on a large vine.

If you wanna read more about passion flowers you can go to this link. The legend of the passion flower