Kingdom Plantae Family Apocynaceae Genus Hoya Rank Species | Order Gentianales Subfamily Asclepiadoideae Scientific name Hoya aldrichii | |
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Similar Hoya cinnamomifolia, Hoya meliflua, Hoya calycina, Hoya pubicalyx, Hoya mindorensis | ||
Hoya aldrichii , commonly known as the Christmas Island Waxvine is a species of flowering plant in the Apocynaceae or dogbane family. It is a vine that is endemic to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the north-eastern Indian Ocean, where it is a common epiphyte in the shrublands of the island’s coastal terraces. The specific epithet honours Captain Aldrich, commander of the survey vessel HMS Egeria, which visited Christmas Island in 1887.
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Description
Hoya aldrichii is a tall climber. Its stems are glabrous with pale bark. The leaves are elliptical, rounded at the base, entire, acuminate or acute and glabrous; they are 75–150 mm long, 35–60 mm wide, with a 10–15 mm long petiole. The flowers occur in umbels of 15–30, are white through pink to deep purple-pink in colour, and are fragrant at night. The seeds are oblong and about 5 mm long.
Taxonomy
The vine has at times been considered close to, or even synonymous with, H. cinnamomifolia Hook., H. pottsii Traill., and H. diversifolia Blume.