Those Star Flowered Tree Climbers

I started my romance with native species not with trees but with members of the genus Hoya. I fell in love with the flowers of the commonly available Hoya carnosa (which is from China but is argued also native to a lot of other Asian countries). Since foremost I am a collector, the prospect of finding new Hoya species available in the market appealed to me. Thus I acquired more Hoyas, red flowered, pink flowered, variegated leaves, etc. I then assumed that Hoya is an exotic plant genus till I encountered my first native species, the orange flowered Hoya obscura.

What made Hoyas collectible? Hoyas are easy plants to rear and propagate. They bear showy star clustered flowers and most have thick succulent leaves. The hunt became much more interesting when I read from Dale Kloppenburg's literature that there are 60 or more species available all over the archipelago,

From then on a lot more native species became visible. Some native species available in cultivation:

There is the unique Hoya multiflora (which is more shrub like than vining), the shooting star now reclassified under the new genus of Centrostemma.







Hoya meliflua which is a synonym of Hoya luzonica.










The hairy leaved Hoya madulidii named after the famous Dr. Domingo Madulid









The controversial Hoya buotii and its large counterpart Hoya halconensis



The simple Hoya incrassata







The fabulous mottled Hoya imbricata ssp basisubcordata













The bell shaped flowers of Hoya siariae.

...and the cliff dwelling Hoya cumingiana.