Hoya carnosa

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Hoya carnosa
NKN-2007-06-13 114250 Hoya Carnosa (Yvan Leduc author for Wikipedia).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Hoya
Species:
H. carnosa
Binomial name
Hoya carnosa
Synonyms [1]
List
  • Asclepias carnosa L.f.
  • Hoya chinensis (Lour.) Traill
  • Hoya compacta C.M.Burton
  • Hoya crassifolia (J.Jacq.) Haw.
  • Hoya intermedia A.C.Sm.
  • Hoya laurifolia Miq.
  • Hoya motoskei Teijsm. & Binn.
  • Hoya picta Siebold ex C.Morren
  • Hoya rotundifolia Siebold
  • Hoya skinneriana Kloppenb.
  • Hoya variegata Siebold ex C.Morren
  • Schollia chinensis (Lour.) J.Jacq.
  • Schollia crassifolia J.Jacq.
  • Stapelia chinensis Lour.

Hoya carnosa, the porcelainflower or wax plant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae, native to East Asia. 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.

Contents

Hoya carnosa has been in cultivation for more than 200 years and has given rise to many cultivars that vary in foliage form or flower color. In cultivation in the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [2] [3]

Description

Hoya carnosa makes faintly succulent shoots with smooth, pale gray, and bare surfaces that twine and climb. The perennial leaves are wide oval to longitudinal oval or heart-shaped. They are slightly succulent, fleshy with a waxy glossy surface, 3–5 centimetres (1.2–2.0 in) wide and 3.5–13 centimetres (1.4–5.1 in) long, with a petiole of about 1–1.5 centimetres (0.39–0.59 in). The spindle-shaped fruits measure 6 to 10 × 0.5 to 1.5 cm. [4]

Flowers

Flower Hoya FR 2013.jpg
Flower

The inflorescence is made up of numerous flowers, hanging or more upright, which are grouped in an umbel. The flowers are typically light pink, but may vary from near-white to dark pink; they are star-shaped, and are borne in clusters. The thick flower corollas look as if made from porcelaine or from wax, leading to the plant's common names. The surface of the flowers is covered in tiny hairs giving them a fuzzy sheen. They are heavily scented and may produce excess nectar that drips from the flowers. A single flower (corolla) has a diameter of 1.5 to 2 cm. [5]

Like most species of Hoya, H. carnosa flowers from specialised perennial peduncles; sometimes these structures are referred to as spurs. These appear from the axils of the leaves and stem; flowers may not be produced when the spurs first appear, but in time buds emerge from their tips. New flowers are produced on these same spurs every year, so they should not be removed.

The plant flowers from spring to late summer, it can produce umbels of 10 to 50 small star-shaped flowers that mature gradually (2 to 3 weeks) on the same peduncle. The scent is nocturnal with a pheromonal tendency.

Distribution and habitat

Hoya carnosa is native to southern China (including Hainan), Taiwan, Laos and Japan (including the Ryukyu Islands). [1]

Cultivation

Hoya carnosa prefers indirect bright light, but will tolerate much less. Though it will tolerate low temperatures (but not freezing), [2] the optimal temperature is 60–85 °F (16–29 °C). It can be propagated by air layering or by stem cuttings. It benefits from an open potting medium that allows some air to get to the roots. Typical mixes include large-grade drainage material such as perlite, pumice, or ceramic balls. The plants should be fed regularly with a fertilizer suitable for epiphytic plants.

There is a persistent piece of folklore that hoyas prefer to be potbound - kept in a small pot. It is said that this will hasten flowering. [6]

Studies at the University of Georgia, published in 2009, have shown H. carnosa to be an excellent remover of pollutants in the indoor environment. [7]

var. Compacta

Hoya carnosa var. compacta Hoya compacta 18.JPG
Hoya carnosa var. compacta

A variant of Hoya, Hoya carnosa var. compacta, is known as the Hindu rope plant, and is characterized by its folded, curled leaves, which grow along vines resembling ropes. The inflorescences of this variant tend to take on a pinkish color.

Related Research Articles

<i>Ceropegia</i> Genus of plants

Ceropegia is a genus of plants within the family Apocynaceae, native to Africa, southern Asia, and Australia. It was named by Carl Linnaeus, who first described this genus in his Genera plantarum, which appeared in 1737. Linnaeus referred to the description and picture of a plant in the Horti Malabarici as the plant for which the genus was created. In 1753 he named this species as Ceropegia candelabrum. Linnaeus did not explain the etymology but later explanations stated that the name Ceropegia was from the Greek word keropegion κηροπηγɩον. This means candelabrum in Latin, which has a broader range than the modern word - "a candlestick, a branched candlestick, a chandelier, candelabrum, or also lamp-stand, light-stand, sometimes of exquisite workmanship".

<i>Hoya</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Hoya is a genus of over 500 accepted species of tropical plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. Most are native to several countries of Asia such as the Philippines, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Polynesia, New Guinea, and many species are also found in Australia.

<i>Kigelia</i> Genus of trees

Kigelia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae. The genus consists of only one species, Kigelia africana, which occurs throughout tropical Africa. The so-called sausage tree grows a poisonous fruit that is up to 60 cm long, weighs about 7 kg, and resembles a sausage in a casing.

<i>Hoya australis</i> Species of plant

Hoya australis, commonly known as the waxvine or common waxflower, is one of the species in the genus Hoya. It is a vine found on rainforest margins and rocky areas, and occurs in eastern and northern Australia, from Western Australia, through the Northern Territory and coastal Queensland from Cape York to northern New South Wales. It is a popular garden plant, noted for its fragrant flowers.

<i>Hoya meliflua</i> Species of plant in the family Apocynaceae

Hoya meliflua is a species of vine in the Apocynaceae family. It is endemic to the Philippines. The vine is common to Apayao, La Union, Rizal, Bataan, Laguna, Mindoro, Palawan, Negros, Panay, and Leyte.

<i>Dudleya densiflora</i> Species of succulent

Dudleya densiflora is a species of succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae known commonly as the San Gabriel Mountains liveforever or San Gabriel Mountains dudleya. A very rare plant confined to the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, California, it is known only from three to five spots in the mountain range, with an estimated 1,700 individual plants remaining. Growing in the cracks of the granite slopes of three canyons in this single mountain range, it is threatened by human activity such as rock quarrying and off-trail recreation.

<i>Dudleya farinosa</i> Species of succulent

Dudleya farinosa is a species of succulent plant in the family Crassulaceae known by several common names, including bluff lettuce, powdery liveforever, and powdery dudleya. A coastal plant of northern California and southern Oregon, it is typically found on ocean bluffs just directly above the reach of the waves, and sometimes inland. Its appearance is characterized by lotus-like rosettes of beveled leaves, and in summer the plant erects a tall pink to red peduncle densely covered in bracts, topped with branches of pale yellow flowers. The green or white rosettes of this plant can be seen covering stretches of rocky coast and nearby islets.

<i>Dudleya pulverulenta</i> Species of succulent plant found in the U.S. and Mexico

Dudleya pulverulenta is a species of perennial succulent plant known by the common names chalk lettuce, chalk dudleya, and chalk liveforever. It is one of the largest Dudleya, with a silvery, waxy rosette that may greatly contrast with its habitat. It is also regarded as one of the most distinctive members of the Dudleya, with one of the most specialized inflorescences in the genus, adapted to hummingbird pollination through its red pendent flowers, the longest corolla, and the highest nectar output. Dudleya pulverulenta has the largest range of all Dudleya, over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi), being found from southern Monterey County in California to the Sierra de San Borja in southern Baja California. It is closely related to Dudleya arizonica, a smaller desert species that tends to lack the specialized floral traits, and Dudleya anthonyi, which differs in a few morphological traits and is restricted to the San Quintín Volcanic Field.

<i>Stephanotis floribunda</i> Species of flowering plant

Stephanotis floribunda syn. S. jasminoides, the Madagascar jasmine, waxflower, Hawaiian wedding flower, or bridal wreath is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae, native to Madagascar. It is a twining, sparsely branched liana that can measure up to 6 m in length.

<i>Bupleurum lancifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Bupleurum lancifolium is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae known by the common name lanceleaf thorow-wax. It is native to the Mediterranean Basin and it is known elsewhere, including parts of North America, as an introduced species. It grows up to 50 centimetres (20 in) tall with a hairless, waxy stem around which leaves are fused at their bases. The dull, waxy, deep-green leaves are narrowly lance-shaped to nearly oval and 3 to 10 centimetres long. The inflorescence is a compound umbel borne on a peduncle which may be several centimeters tall. The umbel is surrounded by five wide, round to oval, and sometimes pointed bractlets at the base. The flowers are yellow to yellow-green.

<i>Dudleya verityi</i> Species of succulent plant from the U.S.

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<i>Cestrum diurnum</i> Species of flowering plant

Cestrum diurnum is a species of Cestrum, native to the West Indies. Common names include day-blooming cestrum, day-blooming jessamine, and day-blooming jasmine. Also known as Din ka Raja, in Urdu and Hindi. The scent of this quick-growing and evergreen woody shrub, often used for screens and borders, is released by day. Cestrum diurnum is easily propagated from the seed, which it produces in abundance.

<i>Primula suffrutescens</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Microloma</i> Genus of flowering plants

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<i>Curio radicans</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Kalanchoe manginii</i> Species of succulent

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<i>Kalanchoe pumila</i> Species of plant

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<i>Hoya bilobata</i> Species of plant

Hoya bilobata, commonly known as wax plant or porcelain flower, is a smaller species of the genus Hoya native to the Philippines. Hoya bilobata is just one of over 200 species of the genus Hoya.

<i>Hoya bella</i> Species of flowering plant

Hoya bella, the beautiful hoya, waxflower or pretty waxflower, is a species of tropical epiphyte with trailing stems, slightly succulent leaves and pendant umbels of fragrant, white and purple flowers. It is an asclepiad in the periwinkle and milkweed family, Apocynaceae.

<i>Kalanchoe sexangularis</i> Species of succulent

Kalanchoe sexangularis, also known as bushveld kalanchoe, six-angled kalanchoe, or red-leaved kalanchoe, is a species of the succulent genus Kalanchoe, in the family Crassulaceae that is native to Southern Africa.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Hoya carnosa (L.f.) R.Br". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 "RHS Plantfinder - Hoya carnosa" . Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  3. "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 49. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  4. Focke Albers, Ulli Meve (ed.): Succulent Encyclopedia. Asclepiadaceae (milkweed plants) . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN   3-8001-3982-0 , p 150
  5. "Hoya carnosa - Wax Plant, Asclepiadaceae". Plant of The Week. University of Oklahoma Department of Microbiology & Plant Biology. May 1999. Archived from the original on April 17, 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
  6. "Hoya Plant: How To Care For The Wax Plant". Plant Care Today. 2016-05-26. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  7. "UGA research shows some plants can remove indoor pollutants". UGA.edu. University of Georgia. March 31, 2009. Retrieved December 6, 2015.

Bibliography