I saw this Hoya growing on a larger shrub in Kauai. Can anyone ID? I think it's a Carnosa, although mine all bloom white-pink. Thanks

Wish I could help. My cultivars "Red Buttons" and "Royal Hawaiian Purple" have dark blooms like that but their leaves are pointed and very splashy. Did you look through the hoya catalogue on the site yet?

Looks like a Hoya pubicalyx to me. Leaves can be variable with speckles and splashes, or they may lose the speckles and be solid green.

Hi, thanks- Pubicalyx would have been my guess too, except the leaves are thick and waxy like a Carnosa!

I was told years ago by a Hoya nursery grower in Hawaii that Hoya carnosa and Hoya pubicalyx are very closely related. My Hoya pubicalyx leaves are thick and waxy just like the leaves were on the carnosa's that I used to grow.

Thanks for the info - in that case, it's likely a Pubicalyx!

Interestingly, this is the ONLY Hoya I saw on Kauai that was not in a nursery and even there, only 1-2 varieties. I went thinking that I will see lots of Hoyas, given how ideal the climate is, but this was not the case.

I saw a lot of Stephanotis in front yards, but never a Hoya! I wonder why they aren't more popular. I'm sure my Hoyas would love to live in Hawaii!

Here's one monster H. cumingiana I saw at a nursery.

Here's the Stephanotis - very pretty!

I have a Wax Plant (Hoya cumingiana) that I got as a single stem cutting in 2008. My plant almost totally died in a winter freeze one year but I managed to save cuttings to root for a new plant. Although cumingiana blooms are pretty, there is no detectable fragrance. I took this bloom photo in May, the flowers were covered in dog fur from our 2 golden retrievers who like to walk around on the pool deck where all of my plants reside.


I also used to grow the plant formerly classified as Stephanotis floribunda but now named Stephanotis (Marsdenia floribunda) years ago and the blooms of that one were very fragrant!

Lovely!!

I have a small-small H. cumingiana that I just started on a tiny trellis and it seems to love it. I can't wait for it to bloom.

I've had not so great luck with sweet scented blooms so far.. I've had lacunosa, shepherdii, wayettii, carnosa, bella and australis blooms and only the lacunosa has a good scent!

I have both Wax Plant (Hoya australis subsp. tenuipes) and Wax Plant (Hoya australis subsp. australis) and I find their blooms to be extremely fragrant. I find Hoya fragrance to be most intense in the evening and at night.

Here are some other pics of the Hawaiian H. pubicalyx colonizing entire trees!!

Is it like an invasive species there in Hawaii? I read that Hawaii is (rightfully) very strict about letting invasive species run wild.

Ted Green is in Hawaii. He says all his hoyas are just growing wild around his house. Maybe there are more than what you saw in other places? That plant is spectacular!

I was fully hoping to see every square inch of Kauai covered in Hoyas, but after a week of going to every arboretum and peeking into every possible yard, I can say that while Hoyas are incredibly happy there, they are not common!

Only saw this one variety and only saw Hoyas in arboretums, never in the wild or a yard!