A Terrible Quest for a Name!

The first Hoya I have is given by my Hoya scientist-friend, who crossed the spirit world last December, after a long battle with the big C. Being the new authority on Hoya in the country, she found a nameless species in our Hoya-rich plant kingdom, and authorities in Hoya-world honored the species with her name, Hoya siariae Kloppenburg. Unfortunately, I still do not have her namesake in my Hoya kingdom. But it is already in my wish list. 

Hoya diversifolia, half umbel already opened

 This is Hoya diversifolia, already with me for two years. It is difficult to care for plants in the condominium units in the big city, so i entrusted it to the building gardener to give it the much needed watering and an open space better than my room. Hoya is epiphytic, so it is very difficult to kill. They are designed to be exposed to harsh environmental conditions.

more flowers in the umbel already opened, flowers opened in 3 batches

Another hoya which I acquired long ago was nameless. I just put it in a driftwood near our house together with another self supporting orchid. Last year's severe dry season almost killed it, but produced stems again coming rainy season. Since it was exposed to full sun, i got a cutting from the mother plant last Feb and put it in partially shaded area to root, with coconut husks to maintain moisture. Maybe it wants to teach me a strong lesson! There was no apparent roots yet being less than two months from cutting, but it produced the peduncle where flowers arise. 

the immature, unopened flowers showing two different apical sites

Now i think i am hooked. When the flowers opened, the scent is citrusy sweet that is really lovely, not loud but just soft which you will smell repeatedly. This is the start of my quest for identifying it. I shortlisted all the names nearest in morphology to mine, including the leaves and other plant parts. My friend who got Siar's book also emailed me a shortlist and some descriptions. I got nine shortlisted names. Even with a stronger background on plants, i still found it very difficult. I realized Hoyas have different flower forms even within a single name. I eventually reached just 2, but the leaf shapes did not fit mine, so i change one to another, which turned out to have short internodes, opposite of mine. GRRR, i am almost at my limit!

Hoya crassicaulis

But there are serendipitous knowledge on the side. I found that our country is very rich in Hoya endemics, more than 50 species at the latest count. I learned that it is expensive online in other countries, and there are already very systematic online nurseries also here in the country, where i can get what i want. I also realized that many species are named after persons i know in the university and plant industry. Two even have the names of my batchmates in college. At the moment, I feel like just leaving the office and go to the mountains, forests and the woods to also find one which might not have been baptized yet!!! 


After settling on the 2 shortlist among the shortlists, I still don't know its name, I am still lost and not convinced. I am so disappointed to be going home with something hanging in my mind! So the last resort is to search for the next hoya authority name whom I personally know and ask! After a long night of waiting, his reply is already in my inbox this morning.  EUREKA! My now very very expensive plant, because of the difficulties it has given me, is now baptized Hoya crassicaulis. WHEW!


My gratitude to Mr Fernando Aurigue for ending my search.