Check out guardinos they sell a species with that name.

The Liddle's have this hoya listed in their 2012 general listings catalog. It is a subspecies of hoya australis. They list is as IML 0256 australis ssp. australis "Brookfield". My guess would be that Brookfield is where the plant was originally collected by David Liddle or whomever else it was that collected it. Hope this helps.

David

I have it and bought from Gardinos, a very reputable nursery. it has IML 0256. It is a legitimate subspecies, for certain!,,

laura aka "gplainshoya"

There is a big difference between these names:

australis ssp. australis
australis ssp. Brookfield
australis ssp. australis 'Brookfield'

laura, if Gardinos is listing it as australis ssp. 'Brookfield' - which is how Amber originally wrote the name, then they are incorrect.

Renee

no gardinos has it listed, australis ssp. australis 'Brookfield'... i can see there is a difference in how its written otherwise it wouldnt be written that way. but can anyone explain what the diference is between having it down as australis ssp 'brookfield and australis ssp. australis 'brookfield'? i would like to know for myself so i can change my tags to how its supposed to be and also so i can inform the person who sent it to me.

Botanical Latin when broken down tells you a lot about a plants origin, history, or characteristics. The names are loaded with terms such as the collection site, collectors name, habitat the plant was found in. Hoya australis subsp australis 'Brookfield' is a proper name and I think Brookfield is a zoo but not sure.
Either way I highly recommend the book Botanical Latin. This book is indispensable if you want to understand the language of Botany.

For example littoralis means by the sea so Hoya littoralis is a species that is found growing close to the sea. Knowing these little tidbits of info really helps you to understand botany and it makes for a much more fulfilling experience.

Knowing how to write the plants names properly is important because when written properly it tells you if a plant is a species (Hoya carnosa) a hybrid (Hoya Mathilde, notice the hybrid name is capitalized), or a cultivar (Hoya carnosa 'Chelsea', notice the single quotations around the variety or cultivar name). I don't know if the Brookfield portion of your plants name should be in quotations or not as there is no real name registry with Hoyas, really that name is probably just a personal note that the collector attached to the name to signify the origin of their plant material.

Mike

To answer your question Amber, there should be a basic understanding of the difference between a species, a hybrid and a clone.

If you understand that, the naming conventions fall into place.

But the differences between the names I listed:

australis ssp. australis

This is the name of a species, the whole population of that species, not a one specific plant. All of these do not have to be genetically identical. Just like all people are Homo sapiens, one species, but we are not all genetically identical.

I'm not going to get into the ssp and what makes a species vs. a subspecies - you can look that up and it is more involved in understanding species, hybrids etc.

australis ssp. Brookfield
This is easy to determine that it is not a valid name just by looking at it, and therefore is completely incorrect. All species names are latinized and lowercase. Brookfield is obviously not a latin word and it is capitalized.

australis ssp. australis 'Brookfield'

The is a name of a single plant, from the population of australis ssp. australis. Every plant with this name should have identical DNA.

To put it in every day terms. All human beings are Homo sapiens. But you are the only Amber. Think of a cultivar name as a personal name. One one exists, unless it is propagated or cloned. Just like only one Amber exists unless they divide you or clone you.

Renee

Sorry I miss wrote the last paragraph.

It should read - Think of a clonal name as a personal name.

Cultivar means something different in the Hoya world.

Renee

no i understand all of what you guys stated. i was just wondering what the exact difference between australis ssp. brookfield and australis ssp. australis brookfield was? i understand pretty much everything else when it came to species, subspecies and cultivar but i got confused with the fact that australis is repeated. i recieved very very high grades in school when it came to biology and specifically that which had to do with anything botanical. i just got confused over the repeated australis part and wanted to know what exactly that was about. thank you very much though for trying to clear everything up for me. i really appreciate you guys taking the time to try and help me, and i think at some point when i have the money i will invest in the botanical latin book so that i can learn more about it. im thinking that when the kids are back in school and i go back to college i might major in something to do with horticulture or something... just a thought...

Amber, I have a Master's degree, teach college, and have three years of Latin ...and I am confused also.

I am not a botanist, though I have a genetic penchant for remembering Latin names of plants to the point it bores people....

However, I do not understand why the geographical Location is repeated. For example, in Wolves and domestic dogs, "Canis lupus" is used as the species. Arctic Wolves are "canis lupus arctos". Now, perhaps if there were many arctic wolves, they would be given various names, such as canis lupus arctos ssp. arctos "Thompson", for example, to denote a type of Arctic Wolf subspecies discovered by a fellow named Thompson.

....Anyway, I myself will buy the Botanical Latin book ( thank you, Mike)... Abebooks had it used.

cheers
laura aka "gplainshoya"

Amber you can find lots of great info in you search for Botanical Latin etc on Google. The book is great because everything you need in in one place but the web has all the same info scattered around. It will take lots of time to learn but once you catch on you will see so many things that were hidden before.

As for the Hoya australis subsp australis don't worry about the repeated australis part. Australis obviously means from Australia and it is because of this that the subspecies also carries this name. Other subspecies of Hoya australis are found on the Melanesian islands so that subspecies is written Hoya australis subsp melanesica. I hope this helps clear that up a little. Other subspecies might be named for their place of origin, habitat, or for certain characteristics in growth habit etc so they carry other names. You will learn these things in time and if you really want to figure this stuff out Rainbow Gardens has some great publications available for less than $10, Hoya australis in Australia is available and it's still correct but will be lacking the newest published subspecies.

Hoya australis subsp oramicola.

ora - coast
cola- dweller- exists only in
oramicola means that this subspecies grows only near the coast.

Hoya australis subsp rupricola

rupestris- rock dwelling- rocky
rupes- cliff dwelling
cola- dweller- exhists only

rupricola means found only growing in rocky areas or on cliffs.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Botanical Latin Basics, just so you can see some of the common terms etc.

I give up.

Renee

thank you mike! that makes perfect sense now! i had gotten confused when looking online for info when i first recieved the cutting, but the way you explained it cleared it up a lot! thanks!

wow i use a lot of exclimation points, lol

"Australis" means southern. Australia was initially referred to as ""The Great South Land". The Dutch changed that to "New Holland". The British then brought back the reference to south by renaming it Australia. Many plants south of the equator have australis as an epithet, not necessarily from Australia.

There are a number of Brookfields in Australia, but the most likely one for this Hoya is Upper Brookfield near Brisbane in Queensland. I've seen Hoyas growing naturally in that area before.

There's quite a few subspecies of H. australis native to Australia. Oramicola and rupicola are local to my area. Some subspecies of australis also occur in New Guinea.

Thanks TropicBreeze, I never really looked into the meaning of australis but that makes more sense seeing as I have some South American plants with the species name australis. That will teach me for making assumptions.

Mike

Hi All,

There are quite a few cultivars of H. australis ssp. australis, named after the area in which they were found or collected (heaps of them from Queensland - YAY!)

I live in a suburb nestled into the hills of a large national park about 12kms from the Brisbane city centre and (what I believe to be) the "Brookfield" type grows wild pretty much anywhere I care to look for it on rocky faces and exposed cliffs in the national park. Brookfield is a suburb a few kms away from where I live also nestled into the foothills of the same national park. The photo I have included is one of H. australis ssp. australis 'Brookfield" growing wild on a rocky exposed hilltop in amongst ferns and tongue orchids, in a remote section of the national park.
The wild ones flower at the same time as my 'domesticated' "Brookfield", the leaves, flowers and vine look exactly the same. It is such a sight to see them in full bloom in the wild :)

awesome. thank you so much for posting this pic. its so cool to see something i have growing in its natural habitat.