H rhodostele

I can't find any information on this hoya, and was wondering if anybody had a photo or any information on it.

Those of you with H. micrantha, is it not a very generous bloomer? I haven't seen any post on this one.

Ok Tami H rhodostele that's a new one on me:-). Micrantha has done nothing but grow for me, no signs of flowas to be seen anyplace.

Blessings,
Awanda

Thats what my micrantha does. I love the leaves and it is a nice compact plant. But I would like to see a flower.

Tami...where did you get it...what does it look like? I have never heard of it either.... Yes, H. micrantha is a cool plant.....

I never heard of it either.
My 2 micranthas are lovely plants and growing nicely, but like everyone else...no blooms...YET.
Marcy

Hey Tammi and the rest. H. rodostele is a hoya that we do have information on, but whether it is in cultivation or not, I wouldn't know. Most of the old literature has had name changes made through the years and we may have it in our collections as something else. I'm going to attach 3 pages from my hoya library, so check them out. There are no flower or foliage pictures just parts that were photographed from the dried herbarium material. The pollinia seems to be in perfect condition, so if I ever find anything in my preserved material that matches, I'll let you all know.
I will also send photos of H. micrantha, but in another message board. It has been a great bloomer for me and blooms in the same conditions that all the rest of my hoyasdo well in.
Annie W.

That's the first page. Here's the second page.

Third and last page of H. rhodostele.

Now for H. micrantha. Here's a photo that I featured in one of the old Fraterna's years ago. I have taken many since but where they are stored on my computer is a big question mark. I really need to use my search engine and find a whole bunch of these things.

Oh boy, maybe I don't have H. micrantha. My leaves look soooo much different than that. Let me see if I can find a picture of mine.

Tami...look at the backs of your leaves...that is what is showing in Ann's photograph....

Where did you get your mystery hoya...that might give a clue....

Carol

Here is the hoya in question. I do not know if this is H. rhodostele. It did come with an IML number, and David thought PERHAPS it could be this hoya. Nothing confirmed. So I thought I would start asking around for photo's or any info. I got it from a friend a couple of weeks ago in a trade. What ever it is. it is an awesome looking hoya. It has thick leaves and the edges have a ever so slight ruffle to them. Whats the technical word for that?

Here is a side glance

Hmmm not a very good side shot. She is a beauty though. Thanks Carol I will take a look at the back of the leaves. They just seemed to be alot different than Anns.

Tami what I have labeled as Micrantha looks exactly like yours!

Blessings,
Awanda

That is a really nice leaf, whatever it is. I found the H. rhondostele in the Hoyan index and will look it up when I get home. The index lists that it can be found in Volume 9 page 33, although, it could just be a reference to the name. What is the IML number? Is that one you got from David?

Mel I did not get it from David. It came with IML 0557. Oh good let us know what it says. I need to get me some of those back issues of the hoyan.

Thanks Ann for the information on H. rhodostele. I sure wish H. micrantha would bloom for me, it just seems to grow and grow and grow. No tips for us on how to get her to bloom huh? I know ... Patience...

Yes, thanks Ann, for that excellent information!

Christine M. Burton has kindly taken the time to review this thread and has provided her thoughts on the matter (as always, only the pertinent information will be included for the sake of brevity and clarity). Aside from Ms. Burton's misreading of Tami's last posting, in which she suggests Tami received the name from David Liddle himself, she has provided us with an assessment of H. rhodostele that folks might find useful in addition to the analysis and photographs provided by Ann Wayman above:

"IML-557 has very thick, ovate leaves (rounded bases, long acuminated, acute tips), more or less lacunosed veins and Acanthostemma section flowers."

"Not having seen a holotype of Hoya rhodostele, I can't be 100% sure of what it's like but from the description and from a "Topotype" specimen (a specimen collected at the type location at a different date) I'm as certain as one can be without seeing the actualy holotype, that Hoya rhodostele is not an Acanthostemma."

"My pictures are of a H. S. Yates specimen # 1545 and it is labeled as "Topotye" and as having been collected at Berastagi, on the east coast of Sumatra."

Note: all quotes are from Christine M. Burton's posting which can be found on the MSN's Hoyas R Us chat group under the topic "General : Hoya rhodostele - what it isn't!"

I would like to thank Ms. Burton for taking the time from her busy schedule to provide us with her thoughts on the taxonomy of H. rhodostele.

Ann

Tami, David Liddle published a photograph of what he is calling an H. aff. rhodostele. You can click on the link and see if it is similar to you plant. http://groups.msn.com/HoyasRUs/davidliddle.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=828
Ann

AH - I also read on the MSN forum that H. aff. rhodostele is also known as H. sp. #93039 - and.....yippeeeeee....I also have this. But goodness, the flowers on my plant are deep pink...one of the few times I have seen it!!! I love the leaves. #93039, I believe, is a Ted Green collection number.... I'll ask him.

Carol

Thanks for the link Ann. This is way confusing now.

H. rhodostele has been described as having unbels of sparce red flowers similiar to H. litoralis, leaves up to 3" in length not uncommon.

And......... Thats all I am saying... :)

Oh other than, the hoya that I have tagged as IML 0557 is NOT H. rhodostele.

well...'aff.' is important here, I guess.... LOL

Well yes I guess it would be LOL

Tami----The pic over on MSN shows newer leaves that do look like the leaves on my 557..........Not Davids pic but the one Chris posted................So I am as confused as ever....Sandy

I just talked to Ted Green (93039 is his collection number) and he collected it about 1000 miles away from where Ridley collected H. rhodostele in Sumatra...so...more confusion abounds. I wonder if H. sp. #93039 really is the same thing... I forwarded him the photo David posted on MSN...see if it matches.

Carol

Hey folks;
I doubt if this will solve anything, but I did find a photo of the flowers that bloom on the plant I purchased from someone.about 15 years ago as IML-557. I can't even remember now who it was, It may have even been David Liddle. I was buying many plants from him around that time. This is certainly not the one that David has listed in his catalog as H. aff. rhodestele, but then he never said it was. The affinis (aff) on a plant label just means similar to, or in a like manner. What I see in half of the confusion in trying to identify these plants, is that too much emphasis is being placed on the leaves. I know from personal experience in growing these things under my conditions that the leaves can look entirely different in a matter of months than when they were first acquired. They can get much greener or a lot paler in color depending on the light available. They can get smaller or much larger, depending on the amount of water, light and humidity. They can get thinner or much thicker, also depending on the light water and humidity. The only thing that doesn't change is the vein pattern and the sap that they exude. If they start in with clear sap as opposed to milky sap, they will have clear sap until their dying day. If they start in with palmate veins as opposed to pinnate veins, they will remain with palmate veins. Those characteristics are set in stone, they don't change.
Annie W.

Thanks Annie! That is excellent information!!!
Ann

Oh. I also forgot to tell you that the little brown speckly things that you see on the peduncle, are dark red, bristly hairs. I'm going to take a photo of the entire plant today before the sun goes down, so you can all see what a truly gorgeous plant this is, no matter what its name.
Annie W.

Two more things before I crash for the day...actually 3 things. This first photo is a full, front view shot of the plant I purchased as IML-557 It can get really wild unless kept cut back. Since it does have a tendency to bloom on the last few sets of leaves on the branches, I usually don't cut it too drastically.
It's a real beauty and a favorite of mine.
Annie

This next photo is the H. micrantha that most of you all have. It's very typical of all the micrantha plants in cultivation. The leaves are like cardboard. and a medium grass green. The flower peduncles have the same red, bristly hairs that you see on the IML-557. The calyx (the little green cup that holds the flower) also has red, bristly hairs.
This species is known for, and described in Rintz's book on Malaysian hoyas as having two different kinds of leaves, sometimes on the same plant.
Annie

Hold on to your hats. This is the big surprise! This plant is also H. micrantha, and a cutting from the one above. I took a cutting that had two different kinds of leaves and rooted it to see what would happen. This is what happened! Within a year, this cutting had reverted to a plant with elongated, very thick, grayish green leaves. I've had it for about 12 years now and it has never grown any more of the (what I call) typical micrantha leaves. It has remained with the very thick succulent leaves, but has the exact same flower. Go Figure!
Annie

They are all stunners, Annie! Thanks for the photos and the info!!
Ann