Goodness knows, I am a fellow beginner on this Hoya journey and what I DON'T know outweighs what I DO know by a lot!!! I had the priviledge of "studying under" (being befriended by) Christine Burton for a short while and my learning curve was straight UP...forget the "curve". I learned a lot from her and I treasure that opportunity. David Liddle has taught me critical thinking and so much more!
This morning I went on ebay to look for a hoya Ms. Burton said on another forum was NOT H. limoniaca. I was curious. That hoya has since been sold (I assume) but OMG...the names that are being used there are only going to put hoya nomenclature back 50 years!
At the risk of offending, which I don't mean to do, let me explain my head of steam:
There are two cultivars being sold as specie hoyas - H. macgillivrayi and H. Iris Marie (sic). Neither are species...they are cultivars. H. cv. Iris Marie MUST carry the word "cultivar" before the name. Disregarding the Code (species must be named in Latin). The H. macgillivrayi is noted as being a Hybrid of Michael Miyashiro...but it is NOT H. macgillivrayi!
What happens?
Unknowingly I buy H. Iris Marie and I trade it out or sell it with that name....confusion? YES. Same with H. macgillivrayi (hybrid). If it is a hybrid or a cultivar (same thing) it is NOT a species. H. cv. Iris Marie was published as H. paziae (incorrect,. but knowing that it is possible to trace the origins of the hoya and get a better clue to the real name).
There is a Dischidia on ebay sold as H. pectenoides "Pillow Fight". Wrong! It is D. vidallii (hort.) per David Liddle where I got mine. Writing "Pillow Fight" in quotes means nothing...a made up name...but if they were single quotes it would mean, possibly, a cultivar.
Correct names are NOT all that important if we are going to grow out our plants, never trade and never sell them. So if you receive a hoya, such as H. cv. Iris Marie, please keep the name together....we have nicknames, but the names of plants identify them and cannot be shortened.... For collecting and growing hoyas, we don't need to speak Latin, French or German...but it is critical (for me) to be aware of correct names.
BEFORE I found out that H. cv. Jennifer was a cross between H. finlaysonii X H. incrassata...I traded it as H. finlaysonii. Someone told me...Hey, I have that hoya as something else. Egg on my face! It was a mistake on my part out of not knowing. This can happen to anyone....and it IS important to see the danger signals in a hoya name which indicate it is not right....
Please?
Whew...that felt good!!!
Thanks. I just hate the thought that people are being taken in.
Please, let me blow off some steam
Just checked eBay which I rarely do any more. Prime example, rosemaryjnn listing plain old H. carnosa as H. Bright One, and proclaiming proudly that no one has corrected her. Sad...
Yes, if there's one thing I learned from Chris' previous web site is the absolute importance of correct identify and correct spelling.