Strongylodon macrobotrys
| Jade vine | |
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| Jade vine in Hawaiʻi | |
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| Species: | S. macrobotrys
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| Binomial name | |
| Strongylodon macrobotrys | |
The jade vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys) is a native of the tropical forests of the Philippines with a local name "tayabak". Its flowers are the color of a jade ranging from bluegreen to mint green, depending on the variety of the vine. hybrid jade vines are longer measuring up to .90meters long- 1.5 meters. The vine blooms in grape like structure amounting to 75 or more. the blooms come out from pruned and mature vines only. Each bloom resembles the form of a stout bodied butterfly with folded wings or the head of an angle with crown if not the head of an Indian chief with a long beard and a longer ornate headress. In its native Philippines, the jade vine's flowers are pollinated by a somewhat grey fruit bat, a specific wasp and is also a home to a specific butterfly.
S. macrobotrys is prized in tropical and subtropical gardens for its showy flowers which are a highly unusual blue-green. It is usually grown over an 8 foot tall pergola so that the flowers may grow longer as they hang down below to be immediately seen. For, once vine maturity is reach after a period of two years or depending on the habitual prunings the vine is generous to produce its blooms. though exquisite, the elusive blooms can camouflage itself in the sunlight and could be undetectable if not for the fallen blooms on the floor from where it hangs. on the floor the blooms still change color as it dried up. mint green to bluegreen to purple. In South Africa the jade vine is mainly restricted to the warm humid strip of coastal Natal but grows in a few frost-free spots inland.
The superficially similar red jade vine is in fact a species in a different genus, namely Mucuna bennetti.
External links
- Strongylodon macrobotrys A. Gray - inflorescence,stamen, pistil, ovary Images - Flavon's Wild herb and Alpine plants
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