After learning about the sedative effects of Passionflower on Erowid, I decided to try it out for myself.  A few months ago at the local nursery I bought two plants of Passiflora Incarnata for $7 each.  I was in no hurry to try the plant out and did not want to cripple the plants by clipping leaves right off, because they were fairly small coming from the nursery.  I let them grow for a few months.  The flowers they produce are fantastic!  Even if you don't usually care for flowers, you will have to admit these are stunning and very unusual.  This morning as I write this, my closest passionflower is on the verge of unwrapping about 6 flowers!  Around noon I will take a picture and upload it to this web page.

Erowid recommends using the leaves only, not the flowers or fruit.  The fruit will make you sick, whereas the flowers are tasty, but if you harvest them, you eliminate the possibility of the next generation.  I can't really bring myself to harvest the attractive flowers, not yet anyway.

Preparation consists of boiling the leaves in order to release the active ingredient and also to allow the small amount of cyanogenic glycosides present in the plant to change to gaseous form and leave the brew.  Cyanogenic plants are fairly common, incidentally.  Bamboo shoots sometimes served in salad bars also share that quality and are always steamed for that reason.  Do not shred the leaves, but put them whole into a teapot with boiling water, because the leaf releases an enzyme in response to shredding which converts the cyanogenic glycosides to free hydrogen cyanide.  Adding a few slices of lemon (to taste) might be a good idea as well in order to increase the acidity.

By late summer, I decided the plants had grown enough to withstand a harvest.  With scissors, I clipped 10 of the older leaves, again to minimize damage to the plant.  I then placed the whole leaves in a teapot, boiled a kettlefull of water, and made tea.  The result was a very light green liquid that at first glance looked colorless, like water.  Since this brew had no taste, I added several slices of lemon and some sugar to obtain a satisfactory flavor.  As a side note, lemon tea, besides its good flavor, offers an excellent remedy for sore throat.  No need to buy throat lozenges ever.  Just buy a lemon.

The time of day was 11pm, about the right time for sleeping anyway, so I wasn't at all concerned that the passionflower might put me to sleep.  The lemon/passionflower/sugar tea tasted so well that I drank nearly the whole teapot, cup after cup, while reading Gore Vidal's witty memoir, Palimpsest.  By the time I noticed that the teapot was nearly empty, I also noticed a comfortable feeling of drowsiness coming over me.  It was not irresistible, but staying awake required some effort, whereas going to sleep seemed like the easiest thing in the world to do.  There were no other effects other than this.  I brushed my teeth and went to bed, falling to sleep very easily.  I slept the normal amount of time for me, 7 hours, and woke up feeling refreshed.