Pandorea pandorana subsp. austrocaledonica is a woody climbing vine

Vine

A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...

 in the Trumpet Creeper family

Bignoniaceae

The Bignoniaceae, or Trumpet Creeper Family, is a family of flowering plants comprising about 650-750 species in 116-120 genera. Members of the family are mostly trees and lianas , shrubs and more rarely herbaceous plants. As climber plants, they are twine climbers or tendril climbers, and rarely...

. The Boat Vine occurs naturally only at Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of...

, Vanuatu

Vanuatu

Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...

 and New Caledonia

New Caledonia

New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...

. A common plant, found at altitudes ranging from sea level to over 500 metres above sea level.

The compound leaves have 7 to 9 leaflets when mature. Leaflets are oval to lanceolate with scalloped or toothed edges. 2 to 3 cm long, 1.5 to 2 cm wide. Leaflets are practically stalkless, though the terminal leaflet has a noticeable leaf stem.
White, vanilla scented flowers form from August to November. The fruit capsule is 4 to 5 cm long, in an oblong/elliptic shape. Inside are many flat, winged seeds.

This plant was cultivated as early as 1800 in England. Early reports state the seeds originally came from Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...

. However, it is now considered that this plant is not indigenous to that island, and the seeds came from cultivated plants in Norfolk Island or Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

.