Balloon vine's other descriptive monikers include "love in a puff," and "heart seed vine" Though the mature leaves are too bitter and hairy to enjoy cooked or raw, the young leaves may be used in recipes The taste of balloon vine resembles many greens with its grassy, earthy, astringent, bitter, and slightly salty tasteC halicacabum is a longlived scrambling, creeping, or climbing vine that is a weed of gardens, roadsides, disturbed sites and plantations It has also the ability to climb and cover mature trees up to 8 m or more in height (Weeds of Australia, 15)This species is often cultivated as an ornamental in gardens of tropical and subtropical regions of the world for its inflated balloonBalloon vine Native to the tropical Americas, West Indies and Africa, balloon vine is named for its fruits, which are inflated capsules with pointed tips Balloon vine smothers native vegetation and prevents plants from receiving sunlight needed for photosynthesis It is wides