Hoya pubicalyx

Appearance

Hoya pubicalyx is a woody epiphyte or scrambling shrub and can reach a length up to several meters in its tropical habitat. Glabrous through-out excepting the inflorescence. The leaves are narrow and have more or less silver flecks, depending on which variety it is. 'Pink Silver' has a lot of flecks, while 'Red Button' has less making the plant quite decorative when nor blooming. There are many varieties in circulation that bear slightly different coloured flowers all sharing the nice foliage. The colour of the flowers vary from pink-red with white corona to almost black with red coronas, and often the plant produces pink-red, spotted and black flowers in the same umbel and all are quite fragrant.
Stems: Subterete, c. 3 mm across, weakly succulent, smooth, glabrous.
Leaves: Thick, fleshy becoming leathery in time of drought, (8-)10-14(-18) cm long and 2.5-6 cm wide, oblong to oblong-ovate, apex acuminate, base obtuse, shining, concolour, above dark green covered in specks and flecks of grey or silvery white, below paler. Some pubicalyx have new leaves that get red or mixed red/green when young. As these mature they turn green. Petioles often dark red brown. Nerves 4 to 5, thin, arched and merging at the ends.
Inflorescences (umbels): to 9 (or more) cm across, many-flowered, upright, convex. Peduncle stout. Pedicels c. 35 mm, slender, light red and sparsely hairy. Dark olive-green in time of drought.
Flowers: Size of each flower is around 10-18 mm. Calyx-lobes oblong-ovate to ovate-lanceolate pubescent or fuzzy. Corolla-lobes c. 6 mm long, broadly triangular, spreading, apices recurved, light red to to almost black with white margin, densely papillose inside. Corona crown same shade or usually slightly darker, red or red-brown, star-shaped. The flowers produce little nectar, have a strong sweet fragrance and last about two weeks.