Herbario HUTPL

1 Introduction Delimitation of species is important for accurately assessing biodiversity, which can be hampered by a lack of consensus on species concepts (Stankowski and Ravinet 2021b). For instance, species could be defined as entities capable of interbreeding (biological concept), as identifiable genotypic clusters (genetic concept), as those forming distinctive phenotypic clusters (phenetic concept), or as those that occupy a distinct adaptive zone (ecological concept).

Introduction With nearing a total of 700 species of Passiflora Linnaeus (Passifloraceae), this variable genus of plants, vines, lianas and trees, is represented across a wide range of habitats and environments. The number of known species is rapidly growing, with since the start of the 21st century around 3–8 new species being described on a yearly basis (Kuethe 2020, SpeciesLink 2023, TROPICOS 2024).