Want to try a very unique flower for you wedding day? If you can find one, the passion flower would definitely be both symbolic and unique.

Popularly, passion flowers and passion fruit are frequently used with sexual or romantic innuendo. However, according to Wikipedia, the “Passion” in “passion flower” does not refer to love, but to the passion of Jesus Christ. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries used the flower as, a symbol of the last days of Jesus Christ and the Crucifixion:

The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance.

The tendrils represent the whips used in the Flagellation of Christ.

The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles (less St. Peter the denier and Judas Iscariot the betrayer).

The flower’s radial filaments, which can number more than a hundred and vary from flower to flower, represent the Crown of Thorns.

The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail.

The 3 stigmata represent the 3 nails and the 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (four by the nails and one by the lance).

The blue and white colors of many species’ flowers represent Heaven and Purity.

If you have a hard time finding this plant, you might want to plant your own. You can buy the seeds at Nature Hill.

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