Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Native Ant Hoya in Bloom

Hoya darwinii is in bloom. The first time I saw this plant, I thought it was an introduced species, Hoya mitrata. I pressumed most of the native ant asclepiads were imbricate shields like Hoya imbricata and Dischidia cleistantha, imbricata and platyphylla. H. darwinii is unque with it bullate cupping leaves, sometimes forming clumps looking like balls where the ants could hide their colonies. I never knew an already interesting species could be arattractive rose colored flowers. Sure is worth keeping them in the garden, in bloom or not.

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