You'll love the hardy pothos, the pretty Pink Princess Philodendron, and the colorful prayer plant, but if you're looking for an eye-catching, unique, and easy-to-care-for houseplant, check out the Purple Passion Plant.
It is also called the velvet plant or purple velvet plant.
Purple passionflower (Gynura aurantica) is a vine with dark green leaves with toothed edges. What makes this plant special is that the edges of the leaves are covered with bright purple velvety hairs. When planted with other foliage plants, it creates a beautiful contrast.
Native to humid tropical regions around the world, this vine adds a beautiful, lush glow as it cascades down from hanging baskets.
Purple passionflowers can grow well indoors as long as you don't overwater them. Although they look exotic, they're relatively low-maintenance plants, making them a great choice for beginner plant growers.
Read on to learn everything you need to know about how to care for purple passion fruit.
Why should you trust us?
I'm a gardening writer with over 15 years of experience growing ornamental, edible, and landscape plants. I also enjoy testing new plant cultivars for performance and reliability, and evaluating garden products for practicality and durability. The Purple Passion Plant was one of the first houseplants I kept as a child.
Purple Passion Plant Basic Information:
Common Name: Purple Passion Plant, Purple Velvet Plant, Velvet Plant Scientific Name: Gynura aurantiaca Plant Family: Asteraceae Plant Type: Perennial, grown as a houseplant Origin: Africa, Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Thailand Sunlight: Partial shade Mature Size: 1 foot tall, 2 feet tall Toxicity to Pets: None
Andrey Nikitin // Getty Images
What is a Purple Passion Plant?
This perennial is an easy-care houseplant with beautiful velvety purple hairs on the leaves.
The purple veins and stems give it an exotic, eye-catching appearance, and it can be grown as a ground cover in warmer climates in USDA hardiness zones 10 and above (check your zones here).
How to care for purple passion flowers
Purple passion fruit requires bright, indirect light.
Low light levels will cause the stems to grow long. They can tolerate direct morning sun, but not direct afternoon sun, which is too hot for them. If you must place them near a window in direct sunlight, use sheer curtains to diffuse the light.
Besides light, the biggest challenge with this plant is not to overwater it: it cannot tolerate soggy soil at all and will quickly slurp and die if overwatered.
Before watering, insert your finger into the soil to check the moisture level, and water only when the top few inches of soil feel dry.
Also, like African violets, they don't like their leaves to get wet – the hairs on the leaves will retain moisture and cause soggy conditions, which can lead to rot.
Meindert van der Haven // Getty Images
Like most houseplants, purple passionflowers like temperatures between 60 and 70°F. They also like a humid environment. You can plant them in a tray with other houseplants lined with pebbles to help them transpire (give up water vapor). You can also place a humidifier nearby. Don't mist the plant; misting the plant will not increase humidity, and its leaves don't like to be wet.
Purple passion fruit has a somewhat erratic growth habit, so if you want to keep it looking plump and neat, cut back any long stems to within a few inches of the soil surface. Save the cuttings to propagate new plants.
To start a new plant from a cutting, remove the leaves from the bottom of the stem and insert directly into moist potting soil.
If you want to speed up rooting, you can dip it in rooting hormone first, but it's not necessary. Place the pot in bright, indirect light and keep the soil lightly moist. It will take a few weeks for the plant to establish roots.
Esteban Martinena Guerrero // Getty Images
Do Purple Passion Plants Flower?
Sometimes you may not want the flowers to bloom.
In bright, indirect light, Purple Passion may produce clusters of orange flowers. Unfortunately, these flowers have an unpleasant, rotten smell. If you don't like the strong smell, cut them off.
Interestingly, the orange flowers give the plant its scientific name, “Aurantiaca,” which means “orange” in Latin.
Flowering also means that the plant has reached its peak and is beginning to decline. Older plants may also begin to lose their vibrant color, so if you want to start over, take cuttings to create new plants.
These plants usually live for about three to five years, but you can take cuttings periodically to grow new plants indefinitely.
Burhan Aural Gudu // Getty Images
Common Problems with Purple Passion Flowers
Purple passionflowers are relatively easy to care for, but they do have some issues, the most common being overwatering. If the soil is too wet, they can wilt and become mushy.
If the soil is wet and the plant is starting to deteriorate, it's probably hard to save it at this point, but you can cut off some healthy parts and start over.
If the soil gets too dry, the plant may look wilted and the vibrant purple color may fade. Water it and see if it perks up within a day or two.
Finally, Purple Passion Flower can also lose its vibrant color if allowed to flower, so to extend its lifespan, cut off the flower buds as they appear, and your plant should retain its purple glow.
National Plant Network Purple Passion Plant in 4 inch Growing Pot Credit: National Plant Network
Rooted Purple Passion Plant, 4 inch pot Credit: Rooted
Wekiva Leaf Purple Passion Plant, 2 inch pot Credit: Wekiva
Arricca Elin SanSone is a health and lifestyle writer for Prevention, Country Living, Woman's Day, etc. She is passionate about gardening, baking, reading, and spending time with the people and dogs she loves.