From the "Description des plantes d'Amérique" by Plumier, in 1693, to the "Species Plantarum" by Linnaeus in 1753, several dubious synonymies of Passiflora laurifolia L. were proposed, generating a persisting confusion. A revision of the process, which led to the Linnaean description of this species, shows that the type finally chosen by Cusset does not match the original description. A new lectotype for the species and a more complete description are proposed from field observations, herbarium and bibliographic data.