Passiflora incarnata

Specific Indications. - Irritation of brain and nervous system, with atony; insomnia from worry or overwork, or from febrile excitement; sleeplessness in the young and the aged; convulsive movements; hysteria; infantile nervous irritability; dyspnea palpitation of the heart from excitement or shock.

Action and Therapy. - Passiflora is antispasmodic. If given when the aura is felt it may ward off or mitigate an attack of epilepsy, but is of no value when the seizure takes place. It is a better remedy to limit spasms of childhood, and has thus been successfully exhibited in trismus nascentium, and convulsions from dentition, or the presence of worms. It may be used with some degree of success in preventing spasm during meningeal disorders, in chorea, and hysterical convulsions.

The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D. (1922)

In herbal medicine

Traditionally, the fresh or dried whole plant has been used as a herbal medicine to treat nervous anxiety and insomnia. The dried, ground herb is frequently used in Europe by drinking a teaspoon of it in tea. A sedative chewing gum has even been produced. In cooking, the fruit of this variety is sometimes used for jam and jellies or as a substitute for its commercially grown South American brother, Passiflora edulis (the fruit is of comparable size and juice yield.) The fruit can be eaten out of hand and when encountered makes a very tasty (but very seedy) snack: historically it was a favorite of colonial settlers of the South and Native Americans alike.

The Maypop occurs in thickets, disturbed areas, near riverbanks, and near unmowed pastures, roadsides, and railroads. It thrives in areas with lots of available sunlight. It is not found in shady areas beneath a forest canopy.