How did the passion flower get its name?

When the first Christian missionaries landed in South America in the sixteenth century, they found a plant which seemed to be a very good omen for the success of their mission. They called it the passion flower because they thought that it symbolised the death of Christ. The five sepals and five petals of the flower, which are similar in appearance, represent the disciples without Peter and Judas. The double row of coloured filaments, known as the corona, signifies to some the halo around Christ's head and to others the crown of thorns. The five stamens and the three spreading styles with their flattened heads symbolise the wounds and the nails respectively. The tendrils resemble the whips used to scourge Christ and the lobed leaves look similar to the clutching hands of the soldiers.
The scientific name of the giant granadilla, P. quadrangularis, is derived from its four-angled winged stem. Unlike the passion fruit which has lobed leaves, it has undivided leaves. Its flowers have white sepals and petals tinged with red. The corona is striped with red, white and purple. The passion fruit (P. edulis) has flowers with white petals and sepals and a purple and white corona.