Hoya Sipitangensis…Maybe?
I purchased this plant as Hoya sipitangensis, but that ID has always felt uncertain. Despite the label, I always felt deep down like this might be H. ‘Rebecca.’ H. Walliniana was also in the running for a while.
The plant is almost constantly in bloom, and I thought I’d take a minute not only to show these blooms, but also to show how they match none of the Hoya I’d considered as the proper ID for this plant. Above you see the full plant, and I am including photos below of the plant in various stages of bloom.
This is the second round of blooms since April, which is when the peduncle/s woke up for the year. Since then, it has rapidly produced more and more peduncles that almost immediately begin forming buds. It’s pretty remarkable, actually. Today, one of the larger bunches of flowers opened up. I checked it this morning to see if there was any new activity on the bloom, but no cigar. Then I checked again this afternoon, and the entire bundle had opened! Though the closed blooms have a pinkish cast, I was surprised to see that the opened blooms have none of the deep pink that one would find on H. sipitangensis, H. walliniana, or H. ‘Rebecca.’ They’re white, yellow, and fuzzy looking without a strong fragrance. The buds appear very Lacunosa-ish to me, which made me think of H. ‘Rebecca’s’ parentage, H. Lacunosa ‘Langawi Island X Hoya Obscura. The leaves of this plant definitely remind me of my H. obscura. Everything seems to line up except the flowers! I wonder if the soft light this plant receives could have something to do with the colors. The leaves never get the reddish cast that some more sun-exposed Hoya get. The light just isn’t strong enough for that. Oddly, The H. krohniana that lives in the same window with this plant is also producing peduncles and preparing to bloom, and H. krohniana is formerly known as the “heart-leafed Lacunosa.”
Regardless of the ID, I love this plant. It’s so easy, and it blooms non-stop. I’m excited for the other 8-10 blooms to begin opening so I can see if there will be any color variation in the flowers.
UPDATE - 6/16/20
The mystery Hoya is in bloom again (third time this year), and this time there’s more pink in a few of the individual flowers! It’s looking a lot more like ‘Rebecca’ now, I think. There are several more blooms to come, as shown in the photos below, so I’m curious to see how much pink those flowers will have. I’m also including a photo of the East window where this Hoya as well as a Hoya krohniana live. Hoya krohniana has produced a peduncle and is setting up to bloom, too. You can read more about either of these plants by visiting the Hoya page.
I think I’ve settled on Hoya ‘Rebecca’ as the ID for this plant, but I’d still love to know what you think! Comment below, send me an email, or visit me on Instagram to chat!
Are you a Hoya lover? Check out Hoya krohniana, Hoya sp. aff. burtoniae, Hoya linearis, and Hoya serpens for more!