In Focus: Hoya diversifolia on Trees

Hoya diversifolia being endemic to the Philippines, love the climate of the country. That is a given and just like any other plant when given the conditions it needs will flourish and give the collector endless joys and satisfaction. I have read many times in Facebook posts some collectors and hobbyists'  experiences about Hoya diversifolia. My curiosity was triggered when someone said that her plant has been with her for 25 years, but has not rewarded her with flowers. I was not only curious, i was intrigued. And i almost pity the collector for tending the plant for that long without any results, and daily she was just waiting. Being impatient, i guess that will not happen with me! I've said many times that i am patient only inside the doctor's clinic, where probably the word patient originated. I never mind that virtue, not one of my stronger virtues anyway.

Another fact about my Hoya diversifolia that makes it more interesting at least for me, is that it was my first hoya given by no other than the former hoya authority in the country, Dr. Monina Siar. She was a friend in the university, became a hoya collector and responsible for naming most of the hoyas endemic here. She even had a hoya named after her, Hoya siariae, but she died of cancer a few years ago in her 40s. So you will understand my predicament with this hoya species, and my need for it to flower earlier than what others experienced.

I grow the small plant given to me in a pot, let it hanging as most hobbyists do. I took a cutting and planted in the 2nd pot. After one year I was already jittery, as it is growing well with very long internodes, but no trace of peduncles at all. I told you i am impatient. I let the 2nd plant climb the lanzones tree in front of the house, as it is not giving us good fruits anyway, because of bark borers. It looked so happy climbing vigorously untill some stems reached the top and sunny side of the tree. I realized it wanted direct sunlight from sunrise to sunset. So i just let it be, doing what it wants. I never give it any fertilizers nor watering during the dry months. Leaves just yellowed and a bit shrunken but recover fast when the rainy months came. After two years on the tree it gave a lot of flowers, this year is its 4th year on the tree. The pictures will tell you a lot of information, no need for me to talk anymore.

This tree is taller than the roof of the 2nd floor. The bottom part of the picture is at level of the 1st floor roof. Beside it is the hoya house where all my hoyas are kept as hanging plants. 

Thank you so much for your patronage of my In Focus on hoyas. 

Our World Tuesday

In Focus: Hoya pubicorolla ssp. anthracina

Hoya pubicorolla ssp. anthracina is well-known in the past years as Hoya pubicalyx 'Black Dragon'. The latter is just a coined 'variety' in commerce to describe its blackish color. The collector is from here in the country, but sold his collection first as export to the western countries but not locally. In effect, the foreign collectors already have it growing beautifully and all of us here in the country are in awe where we can get it. I was just lucky to have connection with some people and was able to get a plant from the collector. Later, when my plant flowered i was so surprised as it is not as black as the photos circling in the net.

I just learned lately that there are two forms of this as collected here. One was real black and the second is the more maroon one just like mine, as presented in the photos below. A friend from Europe offered to give me a cutting of the black form, know someone who might come here for the holidays. I hope there will be a person to bring that from Europe to Manila. I am almost close to praying!

The newer name, Hoya pubicorolla ssp. anthracina, is given by RD Kloppenburg, a former collector who gave names to most of the Philippine hoyas. He was also responsible for the controversial names of many species, as he sometimes give a new name to already identified ones. Lack of knowledge on the characteristics of hoyas to change forms, colors, and leaves shapes through time and growing conditions predisposed the Philippine hoyas to have chaotic names, others actually said "naming of Philippine hoyas is a mess".  Nobody seems to be entering the mess to correct it. 

newly opening buds

side view of the umbel of the newly opening buds

another view of the whole umbel

Sometimes the form is like above, but sometimes it is like below. They seem to be different, but they are in the same plant. That is true with the corolla, but the corona of above and below are the same. 

I love its characteristics of producing continuous umbels for many months. They seem to be always there every month, however there are not as many umbels in one plant as compared to Hoya carnosa. 

Above is the typical plant, shiny green leaves without very prominent venations. The internodes are a bit longer than the other Hoya pubicalyx, but the shape and size of the umbels are just like it. Leaves vary in sizes too, there are leaves which are sometimes longer than the average, as you will see in the above photo. There also a few umbels at the back. 

One of my pot has stems that climbed the lanzones tree. I was not able to see that until i saw an umbel of open flowers as above. I did not remove it anymore, let it climb some more, and this umbel has been flowering for maybe already 6 times. A previous flowering was included in the Hoya Telegrafen, a publication of Sweden, as the editor requested my photo. 

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In Focus: Hoya 'Black Dragon'

Formerly called The Black Hoya

This hoya was collected from the forest of the Philippines just recently. It was first sold by the collector to foreign markets as Hoya pubicalyx 'Black Dragon'. The photo in the webside really has black corolla. A few attempts in getting it from the collector failed, but subsequent strategies let him sell me one already big plant. It was not cheap, i tell you! Of course, i almost begged him to sell me, so whatever price he quoted, i must pay. So that was the starting story of my 'Black Dragon'. 

flowers starting to burst very obviously showing the pubescent inner corolla

After two long years with constant fertilizing and extra care, it gave me two umbels. The flowers are not as black as that in the collector's website, but it is blacker than most, i suppose. So the observation continued. After many months and lots of not very black corolla color, i read in some collectors abroad that theirs purchased from the same collector also did not appear as black. Some of them were disappointed thinking they were given the wrong species, as the color sometimes are more violet than black.

 the green pedicels

At least mine showed the same characteristics of other parameters except the fully black corolla. I also realized that it was not anymore having its original name, but already changed to Hoya pubicorolla subspecies anthracina. The author said that the original Hoya pubicalyx lectotypes were not existing as they were destroyed in WW II. If that is true or not, an authority still has to make another study and changes if ever that is really reliable. 

 top is almost maroon, while bottom is darker purple almost light black

 If you do not know that the previous 2 photos came from the same plant, you will say they are different! They are both from the same plant, but flowers from different months.

I have a theory that as time goes on the media becomes more acidic, changing the hue from bluish black to reddish. These pigments, being anthocyanins, are very susceptible to change in pH. So i am trying to bring back the black color by alkalinizing the media, however i am not at home most of the time, so it is not done competently. I hope i can do it more religiously when i will be staying at home longer. My color change are changing a bit, but not really very conclusive yet.

 Even the shapes of the individual flowers look different sometimes. Look at the above photo and compare it with the photo above it. They don't look the same, do you agree? But again, they came from the same plant. I know, they are all mine, i took all the photos with the same light setting. The hue differences are obvious to the naked eye in person.

The plant showing the shiny fully green leaves , veins not evident except the midrib. It grows luxuriantly vegetative with a few umbels when fully mature. The good thing here is the continuous flowering once it started, not many simultaneous umbels but continuously. 

The details of the botanical descriptions are here: Kloppenburg, RDK. Hoya New, vol. 1-2, Dec 2013.

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In Focus: Hoya carnosa

Hoya carnosa is one of the most common hoyas. Most hobbyists start with this as the beginner will not be disappointed with it. It is comparatively easier to grow, not very choosy of environment conditions, as long as they are kept in moderation.  Moreover, the roots are not kept wet nor dry for a long time. But it is difficult to kill, so everybody in the hoya industry normally starts with Hoya carnosa as one of his first plants.

As an epiphyte it is happy growing with trellises or climbing on trees, just like in its normal habitat in the forest. The scent is not very sweet, but not also bad. But i don't choose it as my favorite hoya scent.

Some plants start to flower while they are still small, while others start slow and flowers soonest when leaves are already plenty. The above lant is just a small cutting with only 3 leaves, as you can see the flower buds are growing way ahead of the shoots.

This plant started slow, not producing any bloom until it has a lot of vine twining and dangling among themselves. Normally, the first peduncles arise from the dangling leafless stem ends. Eventually, even the older stems produce more peduncles and flower buds. The above picture was taken in May 2016.

 This is the picture of the same plant in April 2015. You can see that there are still few vines entertwining, hence fewer peduncles with flowers and buds.  I looked at all my photo files through the years and flowering was common in the months of March to May, just at the height of the long dry season in our hot tropical climate. I have not read or asked growers in temperate climate, where they are kept indoors provided with complete requirements for growth. I suppose, genetically they will also be blooming during those months. By the way, the above plant is only growing in recycled half bottle of a 1L coke, the bottom with the bottle's mouth as the normal drain port.

 Hoya carnosa has a moderately half-filled umbel, that is positively geotropic. That just means the flower umbel is facing the earth or drooping to the ground. The corolla varies in color among the common varieties in circulation. There is a white, a pink, and a red corolla. Moreover, the leaves are just green with a few specks, lighter green in another form, variegated, or krinkled. The variety i put here is the normal original variety circulating in commerce.

The umbel is a very conducive hiding place for the white spiders. Here it caught a bee much bigger than itself, starting to suck its juices. A lot of flies are already waiting for the carcass, they will in turn finish what the bee left off. 

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In Focus: Hoya obscura

Hoya obscura is one of the about 200 species of hoyas endemic or native to the Philippines. The first documented collections were from Bulusan, Sorsogon, but later found in many areas in the country. Being endemic to the country however, does not mean it is still fully available in the wild. It is now mostly found in private nurseries locally and in specialized gardens and collectors in other countries. It was just noticed and sought after here by hobbyists in the last few years, which could also have aggravated its demise in the natural habitat. 

The plant is medium size, more compact than other hoyas and grows favorably downwards in hanging baskets. Leaves are mostly green to light green with conspicuous veins. It belongs to the hoyas with milky sap. The flowers are drooping downwards with flat umbel, and the corolla is hairy revolute.   The leaves sometimes turn pinkish when exposed to colder weather in a sunny environment.

  

It is friendly to a hoya beginner, as it is easy to grow, and responds favorably to normal caring. But just like most of the hoyas it doesn't need wet roots all the time. Drying between watering is a requirement, in a media that is well drained. 

The flowers in the above photo can make the vicinity radius of 5 meters to be sweetly smelling of citrusy cinnamon buttered bread. My hoya garden is just 1 meter away from the terrace, and drinking coffee and toast in the morning feels more luxurious when the flowers are in bloom. I haven't heard someone not liking the scent of Hoya obscura. 

The flowers are normally visited by ants, which partake their share of nectar or whatever satisfies them there. Other insects are also seen lingering in this hoya plant. Those peduncles bearing the flowers must not be cut, as the flowers always emerged at the tips. Flowering is continuous when the plant is growing very well.

The 3 umbels above represents 3 stages of maturity, with the buds clearly seen. The other 2 umbels not in focus are fully blooming with the yellowish one being the older.

Unopen buds show dark pink around each flower, together with the pedicels. Even at the unopen stage the flowers are already beautiful.

 Above photo shows the typical size and color of the fully opened flowers. The corolla are still pinkish with the corona always yellow. Color hues of the corolla are also governed by many factors of the environment including sunlight, temperature, pH of the media. 

Above is a representative of the already advanced bloom. They become more yellow or lighter yellow as they approach dehiscence. 

They turn full yellow in 3 days when the flowers are ready to drop.

a black ant lingers on the flowers 

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