Hoya polystachya Blume

This hoya comes from Java and it was described in 1849.

Hoya polystachya doesn't grow too fast, but it takes up a lot of space. It's best grown on a large support from the beginning since the stem gets thick and stiff very fast. This is definately a hoya mostly grown for the beautiful leaves. The leaves are hard and big, up to 18x10 cm (smallest 12x7 cm) and they have a beautiful "veined" surface. It's easy to grow, but grows slowly and small cuttings can take very long before they root and start new growth.

The peduncles often grow together, sometimes up to three from the same place. Not all the flowers in an umbel develop at the same time and this makes it feel like it's always blooming. The almost flat flowers are less than 1 cm each, pale brown/pink with white coronas and small yellow centers. There can be up to 60 flowers in each umbel and they last about 5 days. The flowers look almost transparent and produce no nectar. However, the peduncles on my plant produce lots of nectar before the flowers open...