Cultivating jade vine requires a tropical environment, making it a popular choice in botanical gardens and conservatories.

The plant was noted on the jungled slopes of Mount Makiling, on the Philippines’ Luzon Island, by members of the United States Exploring Expedition.

Gray had disagreed with Lt. Charles Wilkes, the U.S. Navy officer who had led the expedition and elected not to join the voyage itself.

Its species epithet macrobotrys means “long grape cluster”, from the Greek makros "long" and botrys "bunch of grapes",[4] referring to the fruit; the genus name derives from strongylos "round", and odous "tooth",[5] referring to the rounded teeth of the calyx.

Like kudzu, which also belongs to the papillionaceous subfamily, the Jade Vine can completely smother a dead, dying or severely damaged tree.

Each bloom resembles a stout-bodied butterfly with folded wings; they have evolved certain modifications to allow them to be pollinated by a species of bat that hangs upside down on the inflorescence to drink its nectar.

[7][10] Their bright coloration is an example of copigmentation, a result of the presence of malvin (an anthocyanin) and saponarin (a flavone glucoside) in the ratio 1:9.

Experiments showed that saponarin produced a strong yellow colouring in slightly alkaline conditions, resulting in the greenish tone of the flower.

[2] 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 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 regime).

People of its native island of Luzon (name in Tagalog: tayabak)[17] eat them as vegetables in a similar manner as katurai.