Hoya is a genus of over 200 evergreen perennial flowering plants in the Apocynaceae (dogbane) family. Members of this genus are native to coastal bluffs, stream margins, escarpments, and tropical rainforest habitats. They are commonly twining climbers with simple ovate leaves and often fragrant waxy 5-petalled flowers, with a contrasting eye, held in pendant umbels. These are usually cultivated as glasshouse specimens and as houseplants due to their tenderness, but they can be grown outside in sheltered positions and mild climates.
Hoyas are epiphytes, what this means is that, they don’t necessarily grow in a soil substrate in their natural environment and draw nutrients from the air, rainwater, debris collected around the roots, and decomposing bark of the host trees. Among the beautiful varieties of Hoya include:
- Hoya carnosa
- Hoya kerrii
- Hoya australis
- Hoya bella
- Hoya linearis
- Hoya retusa
- Hoya pubicalyx
- Hoya lacunosa
- Hoya multiflora
- Hoya Imperialis
- Hoya obscura
- Hoya engleriana
- Hoya Krimson Princess
- Hoya Krimson Queen
- Hoya Kentiana
- Hoya Affinis
- Hoya Memoria
- Hoya shepherdii
- Hoya serpens
- Hoya diversifolia
- Hoya imbricata
- Hoya Callistophylla
- Hoya Pachyclada
- Hoya Odorata
Hoya carnosa
It is a common house plant grown for its attractive waxy foliage, and sweetly scented flowers. It is grown well in pots and hanging baskets. Hoya carnosa makes faintly succulent shoots with smooth, pale gray, and bare surfaces that twine and climb. The perennial leaves are stalked with about 1 to 1.5 cm long stems. The blade is wide oval to longitudinal oval or heart-shaped. The leaves are slightly succulent, fleshy with a waxy glossy surface.The flowers are typically light pink, but may vary from near-white to dark pink; they are star-shaped, and are borne in clusters that look like tiny wax miniatures.
Hoya Kerrii
Hoya Kerrii is a climbing plant that can grow up to around 10 feet. Their thick, heart-shaped leaves have earned them common nicknames including sweetheart vine, hoya hearts, lucky heart plant, and Valentine’s hoya. The flowers have white sepals and red, fuzzy-haired petals. They tend to produce a lot of red-brown nectar, although the nectar is usually odourless. Hoya heart flowers take around two weeks to open.
Hoya polyneura
Hoya polyneura is a tender evergreen succulent perennial with a trailing habit.Commonly known as Fishtail Hoya is epiphytic and thus grows without the need for soil substrate. It produces fragrant, waxy, cream-red, 5-petalled flowers with a contrasting eye, held in pendant umbels. Frequently grown as glasshouse specimens and as houseplants due to their tenderness, but they can be grown outside in sheltered positions and mild climates.
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Hoya bella
Hoya bella is often better known as Miniature Wax Plant or Beautiful Wax Plant, previously it was called Hoya lanceolata subsp. bella. This shrubby plant is an epiphytic with arching stems which are oval in shape. The flowers are produced in umbels of star-shaped, white, scented blooms which are borne in the summer. It can be trained on small trellises or pruned to keep it small and neat. The flowers give off a strong, fragrant scent that is sweet.
Hoya retusa
Hoya retusa is a tender evergreen succulent perennial with a trailing habit that produces fragrant, creamy-white waxy 5-petalled flowers that have a contrasting red eye – corona. It is commonly called the Grass Leafed Hoya for its slightly flattened, 12cm long and thin green cylindrical leaves that protrude from its stems in every direction and have two almost undistinguished lobes at the end of each leaf.
Hoya australis
Also commonly known by the names Waxvine, Common Waxflower, Porcelain Flower, Common Wax Flower. It forms slim stems with fleshy, succulent leaves.Grown for the foliage and flowers, Hoya australis enjoys bright light and dry, well-draining soil. It is an easy to care for, classic houseplant.Flowers appear in clusters, they are sweetly scented, star-shaped and coloured pink-white, appearing from spring-summer.
Hoya Linearis
Hoya Linearis differs from many other Hoyas since it doesn’t have large, thick, waxy leaves for which Hoyas are famous. Instead, the leaves are thin, soft, and slightly hairy. The Hoya linearis produces strange looking flowers that seem almost incongruous to the plant. They start as small peduncles and gradually burst into bunches of small white blooms. Lots of bright indirect light and regular fertiliser through summer will help the plant to flower from late summer to autumn.
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Hoya pubicalyx
Hoya pubicalyx sometimes confused for Hoya carnosa, it has succulent, lanceolate foliage and grows in a vining habit epiphytically.The Hoya Pubicalyx looks beautiful in hanging baskets or terrestrial pots. The hoya pubicalyx flower is a tiny pink star with a lighter pink star in the middle and a maroon center. The evergreen hoya pubicalyx leaves are about four inches long and 2.4 inches wide that typically climb to reach about 10 feet high.
Hoya lacunosa
Hoya lacunosa is a succulent plant that can grow to be impressively large. It is often used as a decorative plant and is a staple of many gardens. One of the smaller hoya species, Hoya lacunosa, gets its name from the sunken veins on its foliage. The stems generally grow to about 5’ feet, half the length of other popular varieties.The blooms with a rich, cinnamon fragrance appear from spring through fall.The blooms form in umbels (small bundles) of white, cream, or tan star-shaped flowers.
Hoya Multiflora
As the name indicates, Hoya Multiflora plants flower a lot and also frequently. The stems of Hoya Multiflora lay on the ground but with erect or rising tips. The floral arrangement of this Hoya possesses large clusters of star-shaped flowers almost continuously all year round. Its dense leaves, strong stems, and upright growth habit add a distinguishing presence to any array. Hoya Multiflora is also known with common names such as Shooting Star Hoya, Many Flower Hoya, Wax plant, and Porcelain flower.
Hoya Imperialis
The Hoya Imperialis is also called the Imperial Hoya. It is a rampant grower that’s very hard to keep under control, creeping and climbing over anything it can find and throwing out umbels and umbels of the most gorgeous maroon waxy flowers throughout the year. Most gardeners grow Hoya Imperialis for its otherworldly blooms – maroon to mauve, perfectly star shaped, like wedding cake decorations.
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Hoya obscura
Hoya obscura is a fast-growing hoya variety characterized by medium-sized veined leaves that range from deep green when grown in shade, to a deep reddish color. The leaves of this plant are fascinating to observe as they are green in color when kept under a shade but start to turn red when exposed to sunlight during winters. The leaves also have pinnate veining when they are grown under shade rather than direct sunlight. This hoya is very easy to grow.
Hoya engleriana
Hoya engleriana is a fast grower with small, needle-shaped leaves, making it stand out amongst other Hoyas. It produces small clusters of flowers with a waxy purple-pink center. The flowers do not produce a scent.
Hoya Krimson Princess
The hoya krimson princess is a beautiful, small variegated hoya It has light green variegations down the center of it’s leaves.Hoya Krimson Princess is a vigorous grower that grows well if conditions in terms of light, watering, temperature, humidity, nutrients, and soil composition are met.When grown indoors, a mature Hoya Krimson Princess can reach a length of 60 to 80 inches.
Hoya Krimson Queen
Hoya Krimson Queen plant is also known as Tricolor. Just like the name, Hoya Carnosa Tricolor or Krimson Queen has tricolor on its foliage. There is cream within the edge of the leaves, deep green foliage on the center and bright pink for the new foliage and vines. Moreover, all of the color is very solid, sharp like a queen of plants. That’s why many people love its attractive foliage.
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Hoya Kentiana
Hoya Kentiana yields the loveliest little flowers that give off an aroma of butterscotch. It has string bean-like blades that are slender, dark green, and almost “bent” along the length of the leaf. The blossoms are fluffy balls with a darker crown and reddish lilac backward bend petals. The Hoya kentiana is a night flowering species pollinated by night critters such as bats and moths drawn to the sweet, sugary-scented nectar.
Hoya Affinis
Hoya Affinis, or the Red Wax plant, is an extremely gorgeous plant with red flowers. Blooms on this species have a heavy texture and bigger size compared to the regular Hoya flowers. The typical star-shaped flowers in red with lush green foliage make this a very bright and pleasing houseplant.The brilliant the light, the more brilliant red the flowers become. This easy grower can produce long felted vines that can be wrapped around a trellis or hanging basket.
Hoya Memoria
Hoya gracilis commonly referred to as Hoya memoria is a shrub like climber that produces small, pale pink – red, heavily scented flowers and blooms prolifically indoors when given bright, but indirect light. The leaves of this Hoya are flecked with variegation and the new growth is dark red. It Can be grown as a hanging / trailing plant or given a trellis to let it climb.
Hoya shepherdii
Hoya shepherdii is among the most enchanting of the Hoya plants. It’s popularly known as the string bean Hoya due to the elongated shape of its leaves. Like most Hoyas, this plant species develops pendulous veins and vibrant foliage, which makes for a beautiful houseplant. It looks particularly stunning if placed on a hanging basket. With time, it also produces clusters of fragrant flowers- another aspect that makes it a suitable ornamental indoor plant.
Hoya serpens
Hoya serpens is a small trailing vine with a fairly fast growth and blooms consistently year after year. It has small round leaves that are 1.5 to 2 cm long. The leaves are dark green, hairy, and have grey spots intermittently dispersed. The Hoya Serpens plant produces unique pale green flowers that have a sweet, vague fragrance. However, their smell is stronger when several flowers are open at the same time.The Hoya Serpens plant thrives in bright dappled sunlight and has average watering needs.
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Hoya diversifolia
The hoya diversifolia is an epiphyte, meaning it doesn’t need soil in order to grow. It thrives on the air around it and will only thrive if given ample amounts of light as well. The leaves of this plant look like small versions of the ones found on grapevines, however, only one leaf is formed per stem node. This particular Hoya variety can be grown from cuttings or seeds if fresh-picked fruit pulp is used as a rooting medium.The flowers are white with pink throats which have five lobes and they are followed by a red, five-lobed berry.
Hoya imbricata
Hoya imbricata is a myrmecophile epiphytic creeper with long, thin climbing stems, occurring throughout tropical Asia. It is unusual for its large, decorative, mottled green and purple dome-shaped leaves of some 25 cm in diameter, which offer accommodation to ant colonies. The leaves of Hoya Imbricata grow close to each other, almost like a wrap. Mature Hoya Imbricata can grow quite long in length, forming intricate patterns by branching and re-branching.
Hoya Callistophylla
The Hoya Callistophylla is a popular indoor plant choice due to its admirable looks and disease-resistant nature.The vines of this Hoya variety can reach up to 16 feet, when allowed to grow at its whim. While its waxy, oval leaves are mesmerizing due to their bright green color and dark green veins, the plant has another attractive feature – its blooms, which are star-shaped and pale yellow or orange with red tips. This plant is also known as Stiff-leaved Hoya and Wax-plant Callistophylla. The alternative names refer to the Callistophylla plant’s leaves’ texture and its beautiful flowers.
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Hoya Pachyclada
Hoya Pachyclada is an unusual and beautiful Hoya. It has a delicate, waxy texture that you will find on many Hoya plants. Hoya Pachyclada is also called the “Hairy-stemmed Hoya” because of its hairy stem, which it uses for clinging to cliffs in its natural habitat. This hoya is a rare and grows in the form of a tree, with many stems that can grow to be over 3 meters tall! This Hoya does not flower often, but when it does, it produces an incredible display of flowers.
Hoya Odorata
Hoya Odorata’s leaves are thin and beautifully copper colored when young and the stems tend to have an upright habit until they begin to flex as they grow longer. Its flowers have a wonderful scent that makes the air feel like it is crisp and clean. The fragrance is described as being slightly citrus and sweet. Hoya Odoratas flowers are very seasonal and only tend to bloom during the autumn season. Once these flowers start to bloom, they grow in small clusters of tiny white flowers.
Further References
- Types of Hoya Varieties: https://smartgardenguide.com/hoya-varieties/
- List of Hoya Species: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hoya_species
- Ultimate guide to Hoya Varieties: https://todaysgardener.com/hoya-plant-types/
- Facts About Hoya Varieties: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoya_(plant)
- How to grow and care for Hoya: https://www.thespruce.com/hoya-plants-1315763