It is a vine native to New Zealand and in mahori language is known as Pohuehue, and owes its scientific etymology to the biologist and physician Heinrich Gustav Alsatian Mühlenbeck (1798-1845). It is naturally part of the coastal scrub associated with sand dunes to which it helps stabilize. It is a fast growing vine whose structure provides valuable habitat for birds and insects, thus helping to promote biodiversity. Uncommon in gardening, in the nineteenth century it was cultivated in Spain to decorate the hanging planters. By then it was known as Muehlenbeckia abrazadora. The Alcázar of Seville a single specimen spreads by the stone stairs connecting the garden of Dance with the one of Mercury.