Hoya carnosa

Hoya carnosa is a plant in the genus Hoya, family Apocynaceae.

It is native to Taiwan, where the national Red List assesses it as Least Concern. Its native range also covers south-central and south-eastern China, Hainan, Japan (including the Nansei Islands), Laos and Myanmar.

It is a climbing epiphyte or lithophyte. In the wild it usually climbs on trees in mountain forest at about 200 to 1,200 m, and its stems can reach 6 m.

The leaves are broadly ovate-cordate to ovate-oblong or elliptic, 3.5 to 13 cm long and 3 to 5 cm wide. The flowers form a ball-shaped umbel-like cluster of about 30, on a peduncle about 4 cm long. The corolla is white, sometimes pink in the centre, 1.5 to 2 cm across, with the inner surface of the lobes densely covered in tiny papillae. The flowers are fragrant, especially in the evening.

The flowers grow from long-lasting spurs, and many hoyas rebloom from the same spur. Let spent flowers drop on their own; cutting them off removes the site of future flowers.

Stem cuttings are the most reliable way to propagate it. Each cutting should include at least one or two nodes, and roots usually form within a few weeks.

In cultivation there is a cultivar called 'Compacta', known in English as Hindu rope, with tightly curled leaves closely spaced on trailing stems. Its care and flowering are the same as the typical species; the biggest difference is that it grows much more slowly.