Hi There,
Hoping someone can help me I bought the below plant a few weeks ago from a well known online supplier. It was sold to me as hoya sp. philippines, but as I research the internet I can't see a hoya sp. philippines that looks like this. Infact I suspect it's hoya 'Rosita'.

I'm wondering if someone could confirm my suspicions one way or another, so I can go back to the company as I paid a good bit for it hoping to get what I paid for.

Thanks in advance for your help

Hi Annabel, to the site!

Many Hoyas look very similar in leaf and in bloom and it's sometimes difficult to determine an exact identity. Although I'm not familiar with a plant named Hoya sp. Philippines, there are hundreds of Hoyas that come from that part of the world. When I did a google search for Hoya sp. philippines it brought up photos of a Hoya with long, pointed leaves with very distinctive veining, which I do not see in the leaves of your plant. Your Hoya does indeed have a strong resemblance to Wax Plant (Hoya 'Rosita')

For comparison, this is a photo of my Hoya 'Rosita' when I first purchased it in September 2022.


My plants are not in pristine condition because they stay outside in the elements year round but this is a current photo of my Hoya 'Rosita' plant. The leaves are very dark in color from lots of sun.


Hoya 'Rosita' leaf size and shape appears to me to be much different than the on line photos I viewed of the plant named Hoya sp. philippines.

I enlarged this photo of Hoya 'Rosita' leaves and you can see that they do have a little veining but it is barely visible and the leaves are not as long or pointed as depicted in photos of H. sp. philippines.


Have you checked the vendors online site to see if they have other Hoyas listed that look more like your plant? I'd definitely contact them because there very well could have been an error when they were packing and shipping plants and it looks to me like you got something other than what you ordered!

Hi Lin,

Awe bless you thanks for your warm welcome 🤗 and thank you for responding to my question…

I found the exact thing when I googled it… the leaves were much bigger, elongated and heavily veined… that's what I was expecting to receive… but as you've said yourself what I have looks very much like your hoya 'Rosita'.

It's interesting that there's not many hits come up on Google for hoya sp. philippines either, I'm staring to wonder if this is a name that's being used maybe only in the uk or an alternative name for the plant… like there's a few different names for carnosa 'Krimson Queen'. I took a look on Vermont Hoyas website and he doesn't even have a sp. philippines listed and he's hundreds listed there so I'm wondering if this plant exists at all?!?

It's all very confusing… 🤪😂

As you suggested I went back and had another look at the website I bought it from and yes they do have another listing that looks similar to my plant… and yes it's hoya 'Rosita' would you believe it…

I'll take all this info back to them and see what they can do for me…

Your hoyas are beautiful by the way Lin… I've been slowly reading through the forum posts on here and the plant pictures you've posted are stunning… they obviously love your green thumb and Florida weather…

I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my question… you've been very helpful…

Many Blessings, Annabel x

Thank you for the compliment regarding my Hoyas. Since my plants stay outside year round, they often have blemishes and sometimes sunburn but I still enjoy growing them.

I'm glad that you are going to contact the company you purchased your Hoya from. Plant tags can easily get put into the incorrect pot, so hopefully the company will recognize this instance as an error on their part and compensate you with the correct plant that you paid for!