Hoya onychoides Forster, Liddle & Liddle

This hoya comes from Papua New Guinea and it was described in 1992.

This is a twining hoya that will need quite a lot of space. The shiny leaves are dark green, lighter underneath, thick and have prominent center veins. The size of the leaves can vary from 12-22 cmlong and 4-7 cm wide. The foliage on this hoya is impressive!

The flowers are are also impressive. The buds keep growing and growing and when you finally think they are big enough to open they just grow some more... The waiting isn't as long as for Hoya imperialis, but it's enough to make you impatient. The number of flowers in an umbel vary, but normally 8-10. Each flower is dark pink/almost red, the center of the corolla is often paler and the corona is also red. The shape of the flowers is often described as claw like (from the name onyx = claw and oides = like). The size of the flowers also seem to vary, from about 5 to 7 cm. That must be in "flattened" condition or I have a different clone because the flowers on my plant are only about 4 cm in diameter...The fragrance is pleasant, gardenia like and the flowers last about 10 days before they start shrivelling up...