Hortus Botanicus Leiden, Netherlands

Common name: Jadebloem, Jade vine, Emerald creeper, Liane de jade

Family: Fabaceae (Pea or bean family)

Distribution: Philippines

Hardiness: Zone 10

Life form: Climber

Comments: The jade vine is one of the most spectacular climbers in our greenhouses. It is a climbing and twining plant from the Philippines, but hardly grows in the wild anymore. Fortunately the plant can be found in many botanic gardens. It flowers in early May with large trusses of striking, beak-like turquoise flowers that resemble an upside-down parrot’s beak. In a good year, there can be around 25-30 trusses of up to 90 cm long. This makes it one of our most photographed flowers, but it is not easy to capture its special colour accurately in a photo. Its leaves are not big and resemble bougainvillea leaves: pointed and shiny green. In our botanic garden this interesting and curious exotic plant has rarely produced fruits (pods), but that is not a problem as these plants can be easily propagated through cuttings.