This southeastern vine occurs in damp soil along shorelines of various types, from stagnant sloughs to rocky riverbanks. Although reportedly "high climbing" in warmer states, it is generally no more than 1-2 m tall and barely woody in Ky. Reassignment of this species from Trachelospermum to the monotypic genus, Thyrsanthella, is supported by global analysis of Apocynaceae (Livshultz et al. 2007). Trachelospermum is largely East Asian.