I know, I know

LOL, I know it's nearly impossible to ID from foliage alone but I'm going to post this picture for any feedback to see what y'all think. I got this H. australis in a trade last April, it was labeled H. australis sp. keysii but after looking at many, many photo's on line, I know it's not that one. I'm assuming it is an australis? The picture has the leaves showing up much darker green then they actually appear in person. They are more of a soft light gray/green or then again, maybe it's just my eyes! The foliage is soft and fuzzy on both top and bottom, but seems even softer on the bottom sides. I look forward to someday seeing blooms, and to get a positive ID. This plant seems to be a slow grower but is growing ... I'm hoping when the weather gets consistently warmer, it will really take off!

Any and all comments welcome!

A close up of foliage:

I've been googling for Hoya australis and found this one ssp rupicola that looks a lot like my plant. Whatcha think?

http://australiansucculents.com/index.php?mact=Album,m4,default,1&m4albumid=56&m4returnid=86&page=86

I think you probably have H. australis subsp. australis - also called (wrongly) H. australis subsp. keysii and/or H. keysii. It's an easy grower...will take a lot of light and is very tolerant of being dry and being very wet. subsp. rupicola looks (in the flesh) nothing like your plant...

The leaves look larger than I would expect....but then again, you could have a seedling and with those, nearly anything goes...you can get larger leaves and/or smaller leaves and your growing conditions are probably just too good!!! HTH

I agree with Carol. I have this plant and agree its a very, very slow grower and also that it is extremely tolerant of whatever kind of care you throw at it.


Christine

Thanks ladies. I also have two other australis that I thought someone ID'd as subsp. australis but they are totally different than the plant in photo above.



H. australis ? #1

Close up of foliage of australis? #1

H. australis noid #2

close up of foliage #2

australis noid #2 bloomed last summer, Awesome Fragrance!

Any ideas on either of these? Sorry to be a bother ... It's good to know that they are all H. australis. I've just been calling them H. australis noids #1, 2, 3, etc. but if I get the correct names I will save the proper name with the photo on my computer.

Do the other two have completely glabrous (smooth/no hairs) leaves and stems? They look like subsp. tenuipes to me. Basically, aside from the very succulent clones (rupicola and orimacola) subsp.s australis and tenuipes are the others. Now, I have one I call 'Kapoho'...and in my catalogue it is noted that it is a seedling of H. australis from Kapoho which most novices drop in their labeling because they think it is NOT important. Actually, it is VERY important to leave all parts of the name intact.

With all of the seedlings people have fun growing out and then sharing with friends without a correct/honest name, it is getting hard to tell what anything is these days.

Carol, Yes both have very glabrous leaves, no fuzz or hair whatsoever. One plant just has much larger leaves and thiicker vines. When I first got them the leaves of both plants were almost identical, size, shape etc. From all the googling and reading I've done (which isn't a lot) I thought they looked as close to ssp. teunipes too but it's just real hard for me to tell for sure from pictures.

I agree wholeheartedly about the importance of all parts of the name being kept intact! A plant from Kapoho (?I'm not even sure where that is, LOL) may be totally different from one growing naturally in another part of the world!

As bad as it is today, with so many plants mislabeled/misnamed, I can only imagine what it will be like 25 years from now. I realize some folks don't give a hoot where a plant comes from, but it sure makes it easier to know how to take proper care of it if you know a little about it's native habitat.

Ok, I was curious so I had to google Kapoho ... I thought it sounded Hawaiian! http://www.a1kapohovacation.com/kapoho%20description.html

Lovely Islands y'all have over in that part of the world! Paradise, for sure!

The australis from Kapoho is a plant I found growing in the forest in Kapoho...HUGE leaves...as a house did have a big australis in the garden and the forest was upwind...I added the two together. So...it is a seedling....my favorite of all the tenuipes. There are others found in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa...seedlings for sure...and basically they are ALL H. australis nevermind where they come from....

You are one of the best about keeping names intact, Lynne...but others just don't seem to care and carry on with the misspellings and fake names some buyer gave it to make some money...I speak more about ebay sellers than anything. Altho' some large nurseries manage to look silly, too!!!!

Carol

I've never bought plants on e-bay but have heard comments from some who have.

I know I always find the Exotic Angel plants mislabeled at the local garden centers. There are many, many wholesale nurseries here in Florida, most in the southern part of the state. I often wonder who is in charge of putting the labels on the plants. I think it just comes down to not caring, really ... it's all about the $$$. They don't care about the proper or correct labeling.

You have that right. As long as there is some name, they are happy. Some hoya growers are like that, too...unfortunately...because what they do gets passed along with the excuse "well, I got it labeled like that". In my humble opinion...if you are going to sell a plant, it darn well better be labeled correctly when you sell it....or there better be a good reason!!! Logees still sells H. australis labeled H. coronaria!!!!!