INFORMATION:
If you're looking for something to enflame your passionate side, look elsewhere. How so? While its name might suggest otherwise, Passion Flower (Latin: Passiflore incarnata) actually has a history of use as sedative - more on that later.
The flower actually gets its name by way of 16th century Spanish and Portuguese missionaries. After discovering the flower in the Americas, they used it as a symbol for teaching about the passion of Jesus on the cross. The flower's 10 petals represented the apostles, 5 anthers (part of the stamen) represented the wounds of Jesus, while the circle of filaments represented the crown of thorns, and purple stigma, the nails that held him to the cross. Ouch.
For most of us, that's the sort of pain we'd like to forget - which is where the flower's history as a sedative comes in handy! For centuries, practitioners of traditional medicine on both sides of the Atlantic have prized Passion Flower for its purported ability to boost levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid in the brain, a compound that promotes relaxation and sleep. Add these caffeine-free petals to your sleepy time blends, and help your customers drift off to la la land. Enjoy.
