Maypop

This pollen laden bumble bee is loving the maypops! Growing up in the country in North Georgia my mother used to love to step on maypops for the sound that seeds made. She also loved the color of the berries and the gorgeous flowers. The fruit is seedy and eaten by a host of animals. Medicinally it has been used as a sleeping aid, for hysteria and epilepsy to painkiller. It is known as passion flower, purple passionflower, true passionflower, wild apricot, wild passion vine and Ocoee, so many names for the lovely flower! I took these photos at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.