Skip to main content

Wax flower (Hoya lacunosa)

Wax flower (Hoya lacunosa) is a plant species in Apocynaceae, epiphytic, gummy, round stem, segmented, up to 3 meters long, slightly woody, grows twisted or hanging or attached to tree bark with short roots and very firmly attached.

H. lacunosa has leaves with three different shapes, including heart-shaped, green, 2-2.5 cm long, 3 mm thick, 1-2 cm wide, a wavy surface between the leaf bones, flat edges, pointed and protruding tips. The leaves contain a white sap or liquid.

Dlium Wax flower (Hoya lacunosa)


A single root, minimalistic and not branched, arises from the stem and does not gather at a single point, is small and short, is brown and is tightly attached to the bark of the host tree and there are usually colonies of black ants.

Compound flowers arranged in bunches. The petals, crown and corona are five each. The corona is an additional crown. The reproductive organs consist of the pistil and stamens which are arranged in the gynostemium. The extended stigma is rectangular and in the center of the corona.

The stamens compact and form the pollinia structure. Each bud has five pairs of pollinia. The pollinia structure consists of a corpusculum and translator apparatus. Flowers have a fragrance and contain a lot of honey which ants, butterflies, bees and birds are very fond of.

Each bunch blossoms for a period of time, but it rarely produces fruit. Most flowers are in November. The flower formation stage to anthesis is 4-5 weeks and fruit development from pollination to breaking is 4-6 weeks.



Wax flower can grow and produce flowers at a temperature of 27C, humidity 70-84%, light intensity 9.28-13.28 MJ/m2/day and rainfall 55-550 mm. Flowering lasts for most of the year, alternated by two months.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Asclepiadoideae
Tribe: Marsdenieae
Genus: Hoya
Species: Hoya lacunosa

Popular Posts

Purhepecha oak (Quercus purhepecha), new species of shrub oak endemic to the state of Michoacán, Mexico

NEWS - In Mexico, several Quercus shrubby species are taxonomically very problematic including 8 taxa with similar characteristics. Now researchers report the purhepecha oak ( Quercus purhepecha De Luna-Bonilla, S. Valencia & Coombes sp. nov.) as a new tomentose shrubby white oak species with a distribution only in the Cuitzeo basin in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB). Quercus Linnaeus (1753) subdivided into 2 subgenera and 8 sections of which section Quercus (white oaks) has the widest distribution in the Americas, Asia and Europe. This section is very diverse in Mexico and Central America with phylogenomic evidence indicating recent and accelerated speciation in these regions. The number of shrubby oak species in Mexico is still uncertain. De Luna-Bonilla of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and colleagues found at least 3 taxa in the TMVB, specifically Quercus frutex Trelease (1924), Quercus microphylla Née (1801) and Quercus repanda Bonpland (1809). In 2016,...

Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar (Amanita javanica)

OPINION - Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar ( Amanita javanica ) is a mysterious fungus species and has been enigmatic since it was first reported by Boedijn in 1951 and after that no explanation or reporting of specimens is believed to be the same as expected. Boedijn (1951) described A. javanica which grew on Java island as having the characteristics covered in the Amanita genus. Corner and Bas in 1962 tried to describe Javan mocca and all species in Amanita based on specimens in Singapore. Over time some reports say that they have found A. javanica specimens in other Southeast Asia including also China, Japan, India and Nepal. But there is no definitive knowledge and many doubt whether the specimen is the same as described by Boedijn (1951). I was fortunate to have seen this species one afternoon and soon I took out a camera for some shots. In fact, I've only met this mushroom species once. Javan mocca is an endangered species and I have never seen in my experience in...

Lesser banded hornet (Vespa affinis)

Tawon ndas or lesser banded hornet ( Vespa affinis ) are medium wasps with queens up to 30mm, males 26mm and average workers 22-25mm. The head is dark red, brown and black. Segmented stomachs are dark brown except the first and second segments are yellowish orange to brown. V. affinis has at least 10 subspecies with different color variations is V. a. alduini , V. a. alticincta , V. a. archiboldi , V. a. continentalis , V. a. hainensis , V. a. indosinensis , V. a. moluccana , V. a. nigriventris , V. a. picea and V. a. rufonigrans . Tawon ndas forages in grassy areas, farmland, forests and deserts. They eat carbohydrates such as tree sap, nectar and fruit, while proteins such as larvae, carrion, paper wasps (Polistinae) and bees (Apidae). These insects often carry meat from new dead animals and flies that perch on the carcass. Nests are built on trees and people's homes. Nests are generally elongated or pear in the tropics and oval with rounded tops in subtropical regions. ...