''Strongylodon macrobotrys'', commonly known as jade vine, emerald vine''The Royal Horticultural Society A–Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants'', ed. Christopher Brickell, Dorling Kindersley, London, 1996, , p987 or turquoise jade vine, is a species of

leguminous A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock for ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ta ...

(woody

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

)

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the tropical forests of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Its local name is ''tayabak''. A member of the

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

(the pea and bean family), it is closely related to

bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

s such as

kidney bean The kidney bean is a variety of the common bean (''Phaseolus vulgaris''). It resembles a human kidney and thus is named after such. Red kidney beans should not be confused with other red beans, such as adzuki beans. Classification There are d ...

and

runner bean ''Phaseolus coccineus'', known as runner bean, scarlet runner bean, or multiflora bean, is a plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. Another common name is butter bean, which, however, can also refer to the lima bean, a different species. It is ...

. ''Strongylodon macrobotrys'' is pollinated by bats.

Origins

''Strongylodon macrobotrys'' was discovered in 1841 on the jungled slopes of

Mount Makiling Mount Makiling (also known as Mount Maquiling), is an inactive stratovolcano located in the provinces of Laguna and Batangas on the island of Luzon, Philippines. The mountain rises to an elevation of above mean sea level and is the highest fe ...

, on the

’

Luzon Island Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political cen ...

, by members of the

United States Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

led by U.S. Navy Lt. Charles Wilkes. One can only imagine how startling that apparition must have been, but we are left only with the description of the Harvard-based botanist

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

, who had locked horns with Wilkes previously and elected not to join the voyage. As part of the task of describing the thousands of plants collected by the multi-ship expedition, which ranged from

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

and involved several violent skirmishes with the natives (Wilkes was court-martialed at the end of the expedition, but acquitted), Gray named the vine in 1854. Its species epithet ''macrobotrys'' means “long grape cluster”, from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''makros'' "long" and ''botrys'' "bunch of grapes", referring to the fruit; the genus name derives from ''strongylos'' "round", and ''odous'' "tooth", referring to the rounded teeth of the calyx.

Description

It has thick stems up to 2 cm in diameter, which it uses to crawl up tall trees to reach sunlight. Its stems that can reach up to 18 m in length. The vine entwines itself through its host's trunk and branches. Its pale green foliage spreads over the canopy and are arranged alternately. Each leaf consists of three oblong leaflets with mucronate tips, the middle leaflet is the largest.

Flowers

The claw-shaped or beak-shaped flowers are carried in pendent trusses or pseudoracemes of 75 or more flowers and can reach as much as 3 m long. The

turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of yea ...

flower color is similar to some forms of the minerals

and

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

, varying from blue-green to mint green. The flowers hang like clusters of grapes from

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s produced by mature vines. Each individual bloom resembles a stout-bodied butterfly with folded wings; they have

evolved Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation t ...

certain modifications to allow them to be pollinated by a species of

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

that hangs upside down on the inflorescence to drink its

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

. Their bright coloration has been shown to be an example of

copigmentation Copigmentation is a phenomenon where pigmentation due to anthocyanidins is reinforced by the presence of other colorless flavonoids known as cofactors or “copigments”. This occurs by the formation of a non-covalently-linked complex. Examples ...

, a result of the presence of

malvin Malvin is a naturally occurring chemical of the anthocyanin family. Malvin reacts in the presence of H2O2 to form malvone. The ortho-benzoyloxyphenylacetic acid esters reaction product is dependant of the pH: it is obtained under acidic conditio ...

(an

anthocyanin Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart gave the name Anthokyan to a chemical compo ...

) and

saponarin Saponarin is a flavone glucoside. It is found in ''Saponaria officinalis'' and in ''Strongylodon macrobotrys'' where it imparts the characteristic jade color to the flower. This coloration has been shown to be an example of copigmentation, a resul ...

flavone Flavone is an organic compound with the formula . A white solid, flavone is a derivative of chromone with a phenyl (Ph) substituent adjacent to the ether group. The compound is of little direct practical importance, but susbstituted derivatives, t ...

glucoside A glucoside is a glycoside that is derived from glucose. Glucosides are common in plants, but rare in animals. Glucose is produced when a glucoside is hydrolysed by purely chemical means, or decomposed by fermentation or enzymes. The name was o ...

) in the ratio 1:9. Under the

alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a ...

ne conditions ( pH 7.9) found in the

sap Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separa ...

of the

epidermal The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water relea ...

cells, this combination produced a pink pigmentation; the pH of the colorless inner floral tissue was found to be lower, at pH 5.6. Experiments showed that saponarin produced a strong yellow colouring in slightly alkaline conditions, resulting in the greenish tone of the flower.

Fruit

The short, oblong, fleshy seedpods are up to 15 cm long and contain up to 12 seeds. The jade vine is

-pollinated in the wild, thus it must be hand-pollinated in greenhouses to bear its fruit, which can grow to be melon-sized. This has been done over the years at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew Gardens in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where seed conservation is an ongoing focus, especially in the face of loss of

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

habitat.

Habitat and pollinators

The plant grows beside streams in damp forests, or in

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.Strongylodon'', but the superficially similar

red jade vine ''Mucuna bennettii'', commonly known as New-Guinea creeper or scarlet jade vine, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, that is native to Papua New Guinea. The species was formally described by Victorian government botanist Fer ...

, ''

Mucuna bennettii ''Mucuna bennettii'', commonly known as New-Guinea creeper or scarlet jade vine, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, that is native to Papua New Guinea. The species was formally described by Victorian government botanist Fer ...

'', is a species belonging to a different

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

, ''

Mucuna ''Mucuna'' is a genus of around 100 accepted species of climbing lianas (vines) and shrubs of the family Fabaceae: tribe Phaseoleae, typically found in tropical forests. The leaves are trifoliolate, alternate, or spiraled, and the flowers are pe ...

''. It seems to be endemic to the Philippines and is usually found in forests. Propagation has always been difficult. It is considered an endangered species due to the destruction of its habitat and the decrease of its natural pollinators. There seems to be a method of

marcotting Layering has evolved as a common means of vegetative propagation of numerous species in natural environments. Layering is also utilized by horticulturists to propagate desirable plants. Natural layering typically occurs when a branch touches ...

through mature woody stems. It is best planted in ground near a water source, but not inundated.

Cultivation

''Strongylodon macrobotrys'' is not frost-tolerant; it needs a minimum temperature of 15 °C (59 °F). It is prized in tropical and subtropical gardens for its showy flowers which are a highly unusual colour, unlike that of almost any other plant. It is usually grown over a

pergola A pergola is most commonly an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. The ...

or other tall support to display the spectacular cascading flower trusses which are produced generously once the vine is mature (after 2 years or more, depending on

pruning Pruning is a horticultural, arboricultural, and silvicultural practice involving the selective removal of certain parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. The practice entails the ''targeted'' removal of diseased, damaged, dead, ...

regime). Curiously, on a large plant, the pale-coloured blooms can be difficult to see in strong sunlight and could be overlooked if not for the fallen blooms below the vine. Fallen blooms change color as they dry out, from mint green to blue-green to purple. The seed pods are not formed in cultivation, but by mimicking the actions of the natural pollinators, Kew Gardens has been successful in pollinating the flowers and producing seeds. Propagation is also possible from nodal cuttings. In colder latitudes the plant must be grown in a large glasshouse or conservatory, such as the famous examples grown at

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

Cambridge University Botanic Garden The Cambridge University Botanic Garden is a botanical garden located in Cambridge, England, associated with the university Department of Plant Sciences (formerly Botany School). It lies between Trumpington Road to the west, Bateman Street to ...

Eden Project The Eden Project ( kw, Edenva) is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England, UK. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit, located from the town of St Blazey and from the larger town of St Austell.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS E ...

and The Living Rainforest in the UK. In cultivation the plant flowers in early spring. In the USA a jade vine can be found at the

Naples Botanical Garden Naples Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located in Naples, Florida. History The botanical garden was founded in 1993 and consists of 170 acres of cultivated gardens and preservation land, representing seven distinct natural habitats and e ...

Longwood Gardens Longwood Gardens is a botanical garden that consists of over 1,077 acres (436 hectares; 4.36 km2) of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, United States in the Brandywine Creek Valley. It is one of the premier h ...

Franklin Park Conservatory Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a botanical garden and conservatory located in Columbus, Ohio. It is open daily and an admission fee is charged. Today, it is a horticultural and educational institution showcasing exotic plant ...

, The

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

, Chicago Botanical Garden,

Wave Hill Wave Hill is a estate in the Hudson Hill section of Riverdale in the Bronx, New York City. Wave Hill currently consists of public horticultural gardens and a cultural center, all situated on the slopes overlooking the Hudson River, with exp ...

Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden The Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden (known as the Des Moines Botanical Center until 2013) is a botanical garden located near downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States, on the east bank of the Des Moines River and north of . History Interest in ...

University of Northern Iowa Botanical Center

White River Gardens White River Gardens is a botanical garden located at White River State Park in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Established in 1999, the gardens are managed and operated by the Indianapolis Zoo. In 2021, White River Gardens' was home to ...

, and Nicholas Conservatory and Gardens. In Florida, it is at the

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is an botanic garden with extensive collections of rare tropical plants including palms, cycads, flowering trees, and vines. It is located in the city of Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, just south of Miami, s ...

, Marie Selby Botanical Garden, the Gifford Arboretum at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

, as well as Mounts Botanical Garden. In Hawaii, jade vine specimens can be found at the

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden The Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden (17 acres) is a nonprofit botanical garden and nature preserve located on the 4 mile scenic route off of Route 19 at 27-717 Old Māmalahoa Highway, Pāpa'ikou, Hawaii (island), Hawaii. It is open da ...

in Hilo,

Lyon Arboretum The Harold L. Lyon Arboretum is a arboretum and botanical garden managed by the University of Hawaii at Manoa, University of Hawaii at Mānoa located at the upper end of Manoa, Mānoa Valley in Hawaii, Hawaii. Much of the Arboretum's botanical c ...

in Honolulu, the Garden of Eden Arboretum in Haiku, the

Wahiawa Botanical Garden The Wahiawa Botanical Garden, is a botanical garden on a high plateau in central Oahu, Hawaii, United States, located between the Wai'anae and Ko'olau mountain ranges. It is one of the Honolulu Botanical Gardens, and home to a collection of trop ...

in Central Oahu and Glenn’s Flowers and Plants in Waimanalo.

Uses

Jade vine flowers are edible and are eaten as vegetables in the Philippines in a similar manner as ''

Sesbania grandiflora ''Sesbania grandiflora'', commonly known as vegetable hummingbird, katurai, agati, or West Indian pea, is a small leguminous tree native to Maritime Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. It has edible flowers and leaves commonly eaten in Southea ...

'' (the vegetable hummingbird or katurai).

Pests and diseases

Although well known in other Fabaceae—including obviously

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...

s—the '' Soybean mosaic virus'' has only recently been found in ''S. macrobotrys'' in Brazil (

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...

Piracicaba Piracicaba ( or ) is a city located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The population is 407,252 (2020) in an area of 1378.07 km². It is at an elevation of 547 m above sea level. Name The place name comes from a word in the Tupi langua ...

São Paulo state SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S ...

). Whether ''S. macrobotrys'' is commonly infected, and whether it serves as a virus reservoir for nearby soybean fields, will need to be investigated.

Gallery

File:Gardenology-IMG 4901 hunt10mar.jpg,

Huntington Gardens The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Mar ...

(Los Angeles) File:Jade vine (70243).jpg, A single flower File:Jade Vine 3.ogg, Time lapse File:Jade Vine 2.ogg, Time lapse File:Jade Vine 1.ogg, Time lapse

References

External links

''Strongylodon macrobotrys'' A. Gray - inflorescence
Images - Flavon's Wild herb and Alpine plants {{Taxonbar, from=Q1910837 Phaseoleae Vines Endemic flora of the Philippines Garden plants of Asia Articles containing video clips Taxa named by Asa Gray Plants described in 1854