In the moderate and tropical parts of the Americas, well over 20 different species of passiflora can be found growing on the edge of forests and in jungles. The vine’s medicinal uses vary from Virginia to Argentina, the common thread being the treatment of the nervous system, particularly an overactive one. Passiflora foetida is used in Argentina to treat epilepsy, Passiflora laurifolia is used in Trinidad to treat nervous heart palpitations, Passiflora quadrangularis is used throughout the Caribbean as a sedative and for headaches, and Passiflora rubra is used in Jamaica as a morphine substitute. The common denominator is the deadening of the nerve endings, which chemicals contained in the Passiflora family seem to do quite well.

Passion vine is simply one of the best botanic drugs for over-activity of the nerves and any condition that results from it.

Several of the passion vines produce edible fruit that has become increasingly popular in the global juice business. Though some say that the fruit is called passion fruit due to its ability to engender lust, nothing could be further from the truth. Au contraire, the name comes from the peculiar flower’s resemblance to the crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ. Other parts of the flower are also associated with instruments of the Passion of Christ, and there’s nothing less sexy than the idea of a crucifixion as far as I am concerned. The plant that produces the juice that we drink, Passiflora edulis, is not the same plant we use for medicine, but it is a close relation.

Passiflora incarnata, the plant we use to induce sleep, is one of the northern-most growing of the passion vines. Whereas most of them are indigenous to tropical America, the maypop, as it is known, ranges as far north as Virginia. All of the members of the passion vine family contain chemicals with relaxing properties to a greater or lesser degree, and the maypop is the best in the lot for an overactive mind when it comes time to fall asleep. The colonials learned of its soothing properties upon their arrival in the New World, and from there, ultimately it became a feature in the doctor’s medicine cabinet.

Maude Grieve said this of maypop in the 1930s: The drug is known to be a depressant to the motor side of the spinal cord, slightly reducing arterial pressure, though affecting the circulation but a little, while increasing the rate of respiration. It is official in the homeopathic medicine and is used with bromides, it is said to be of great service in epilepsy. Its narcotic properties cause it to be used in diarrhea and dysentery, neuralgia, sleeplessness, and dysmenorrhea.

The maypop can now be found growing around the globe largely due to its attractiveness as a landscaping plant. The parts used in herbal medicine are the leaves, gathered before the plant flowers, or the whole plant, harvested with the fruit intact. Chemically, maypop contains lots of alkaloids, including harmine, harman, harmol, harmaline, harmalol, and passaflorine. On the flavonoid side of the equation, the plant contains apigenin. When it comes to glycosides, quite a number can be found: homoorientin, isovitexin, kaempferol, luteolin, orientin, quercitin, rutin, saponaretin, saponarin, and vitexin. The alkaloids and the flavonoids have been proven to have a sedative action on animals, and, after all, humans are just overdone animals.

Passion vine has a depressing effect on the central nervous system, which means that it slows the action of the nerves. This is why the herb is helpful in cases of insomnia and muscular spasms. It is simply one of the best botanic drugs for overactivity of the nerves and any condition that results from it, including severe spasms, epilepsy, chorea, tetanus, hysteria, and persistent hiccough. Obsessive thinking is also reduced with its use!

Dr. Ellingwood, an Eclectic physician, said that it should be used for a variety of complaints, among them: Wakefulness, disturbed sleep from mental worry, and exhaustion from cerebral fullness and from excitement, especially with feebleness. Anemic patients are relieved by it, also the wakefulness of infants and the aged. It is not usually efficient if the wakefulness is caused by pain, nor when the patient is in full strength. Nervous excitement, and irritation with muscular twitchings, evidences of approaching convulsions in childhood, with marked cerebral fullness are indication, and it is given at any time preceding or during convulsive paroxysms if it can be swallowed. It is indicated in convulsions of any character.

The Eclectics were one of the groups of doctors to really take notice of maypop and its ability to relax the mind and the body. At the turn of the century, one Eclectic physician, Dr. Harvey Felter, wrote:

This new remedy is anti-spasmodic, hypnotic, and tonic. It quiets nervous irritation and promotes sleep. Passiflora should be used in atonic conditions. It tones up the sympathetic nervous system and improves circulation and nutrition. Use this remedy in asthenic insomnia. In insomnia, with flushed face and determination of blood to the brain, it will do no good. Passiflora is of use in some cases of spasm in children, and it may be employed as a nervine at the menstrual period. In insomnia of fevers, particularly low forms of typhoid, beneficial results are obtained from this drug. The dose depends upon circumstances.

Sometimes a person’s nervous system gets so out of whack they cannot fall asleep, even though the nervous system desperately needs sleep. The Eclectics felt that maypop was perfect for inducing sleep in this circumstance. As the doctor said, it simply gives the nerves a break when they need it. It will gently slow the system down so that the person can drift off to sleep without fear of a hangover the next day. This can’t be said of sleeping pills, which make passion vine the superior drug the sedatives used by chemical prescribing doctors. .

I hesitated about including this plant in our backyard medicine chest because there is such widespread abuse of over-the-counter and prescription sleep aids, and I really didn’t want to add to the problem. Passion vine is to be used for the occasional case of insomnia – it is not to be used on a nightly basis for a number of years. Insomnia happens to all of us from time to time. Overwrought nerves, emotional crises, or the flu can all make it difficult to sleep. For cases such as these, passiflora is a great plant to have in the medicine chest.

A few years back, I read a study conducted by a high and mighty medical school asserting that coffee does not make people nervous or unable to fall asleep. There’s no need to wonder too hard what industry funded the study and subsidizes the school. Caffeine is a stimulant. It has been proven to be such beyond any shadow of a doubt. In order to fall asleep, the body has to slow down and relax, and stimulants make that impossible. If insomnia is an ongoing problem for you, look at how much caffeine you take in and cut it out. If you can’t sleep, the last thing you want to have in your system is stimulants.

For people with chronic insomnia, taking drugs, be they pharmaceutical or herbal, to fall asleep on a regular basis is inappropriate. If you suffer from insomnia more than two nights a week, you have a definite problem, and it may require professional help to sort it out. Though there are exceptions to this rule, generally speaking, if you can’t sleep at night, you’re doing something wrong during the day. It could be that you are just taking in too much caffeine, or it could be that you are living your life at too fast a pace. It could be that your life is a mess and you need to do something about it. In all cases, you need to change your behavior before you think about using a sleep remedy. It is not acceptable to be dependent on any drug to fall asleep all of the time.

Practitioners’ Advice

Passion vine acts like knock out drops. It simply depresses nervous function. As such, it has a number of uses. If you are in pain, using it will reduce the amount of pain shipped to the brain. If you are all nervous about taking a plane or going to an appointment, it will take the edge off. If you lie down to sleep and your mind goes around and around, passion vine will slow it down to the point you can sleep. Passion vine reduces nervous activity, and there are times when one needs to reduce nervous activity. However, it should be used in crisis situations and should not be used to prop up a life that needs some correcting!

Tablets: 2-200mg tablets before bedtime