Hills' Hoya Page

Hoya IML-557

Type: Leaves approximately 6.5-13.5 cm long, tapering at the ends. I "borrowed" this cutting from Kew... it's now rooted well and even looks like it's growing. Identified for me by C. Burton, it's an interesting species that was originally classified as H. Kuhlii. I may have to wait til it flowers.. which may take some time! It seems to be a very slow grower, and the plant that I got it from was very small in comparison to the other huge trailing hoyas (including carnosa) in the exhibit. However, it's a very patient plant and doesn't seem to be very fussy. Unfortunately, this one died so I will never get to see it flower, or know its true identity. Shucks.

Hoya Imperialis var. Rauschii

Type: Leaves approximately 13 cm. This poor Hoya has had a bit of a rough time. I put it in the bathroom, which has windows that can concentrate light so much that candles melt. Needless to say its two existing leaves suffered some nasty sunburn lines. This killed off my original Hoya javanica/multiflora but the Imperialis fought through sunburn to root and start sprouting new leaves. One new leaf later, one of the old leaves went yellow and fell off and now the second old leaf is going. I guess they did their job and are now going into retirement. I hope now it's getting to growing season it's going to take off. Obviously this is one tough hoya. Unfortunately this one also died during the winter - I now see it's supposed to be tropical, so my new one will be placed firmly on the heat mat during the colder months.