I've been looking for this one for a few months now and haven't found any sources. Supposedly it's somewhat difficult to grow, so that may account for the lack of plants for sale/trade.
I think your best bet would be to check with Swedish growers because this species is not generally available in North America and is rare in collections to begin with.
There are several other species like Hoya microphylla in New Guinea but they are not in cultivation to my knowledge. Hoya venusta and pulchella. These species would be best grown in terrariums or an orchid case or greenhouse. Hoya microphylla comes from the Bismarck Mountains of New Guinea at about 1100 meters and venusta at about 2200 Meters. 1000 Meters still means warm growing conditions for microphylla but venusta would be classified as a cool grower.
So what exactly attracted you to this species? Was it the diminutive size or the flowers? There are several other species in New Guinea that have similar flowers but they are much larger plants. You might want to check out Hoya subglabra because it is not too difficult to find. Hoya leucorhoda is another species that is close to subglabra.
If you still really want the microphylla I would suggest contacting the owner of that Swedish site you found the photo on. I would imagine that they might trade but who knows what you would have to offer for a piece of such a rare Hoya.
Definitely the foliage, that and the potential for terrarium culture. I have about 50 terrariums (somewhere in the neighborhood of 100+ terrarium begonias -species mostly)
I recently saw another hoya (it may have been on Flickr) where the leaves looked like celadon dimes. I don't think I can find it again. But I'd settle for that or 'Wee Bella'
My passion for hoya is primarily in the foliage. I'm not so good at getting them to bloom, so far I've had a noid, one bella and multiflora bloom for me but that's it so I go for the leaves.
Mike is right,the Swedes are about the only ones who have this hoya and area able to grow it. It is an EXTREMELY difficult hoya to root. I can't say how hard it is to grow because I never managed to get a single cutting to root and I have had many.
The last start of it that I had was sent to someone who I thought was a friend as he/she and I had been in very close touch with each other for about 4 + years speaking on the phone almost daily. I sent the cutting to this person with the intention of them trying to root and grow it and if successful I would get a newly started piece back from them. I probably don't have to tell you what happened from that point on. After 4 + years of friendship and giving this person several hundred hoyas (FREE)including microphylla which by the way they were successful at growing . I got dropped like a hot potato. It's now 3 years later,I haven't heard a word from this person during that time period and they still have MY hoya microphylla.
Hoya serpens was probably the species who's leaves reminded you of dimes. There are some other mini species like Hoya picta/pubera and Hoya parvifolia which are not too difficult to find. Hoya wee bella is actually Hoya dickinsoniana or engleriana as the wee bella name is not a proper name just a descriptive term someone used to compare to Hoya lanceolata subsp bella. These plants get pretty big even though their leaves are small so they would not be good for terrarium culture unless you have a very roomy terrarium.
I'm sorry to hear that DM, I've had a similar experience with an 'online' plant buddy.
/Mike, I have both serpens and pubera - doing well so far. (from Joni and Gardino's)
The hoya I saw looked more like Dischidia nummularia. It may have been, but I thought I bookmarked the image and now I can't find it. I have 'Flickr' stuck in my head so I'll go back and search. I'm almost positive that the photo was of someone's newly received cuttings as it was a cutting laying on a table with some others. It differed from D. nummularia in that the leaves were shiny. Dang. Wish I could recall where I saw it - now it's driving me nuts! (no OCD here! LOL)
Others that I have are H. curtisii - something about getting lost in the minutia of teeny leaves does it for me. I also have several peperomia that 'look' the part, but of course are not.
Don't get me wrong, I'm loving my H. fuscomarginata which has HUGE leaves as well as my new IML 1590
But the tiny leaves have a special place in my heart!
Also thanks for the heads up on the proper species name for 'Wee Bella'!!
OMG Mike, that's IT!! LOL. Thanks so much for showing it! How is yours doing now? Rooted and growing like kudzu I hope because now I need to butter you up for a trade! I wasn't too far off from my memory, not bad for an old lady eh?
All kidding aside, it is a beauty and now moved to the top of my 'lust list' for new hoya acquisitions!
/Carolyn, I have a new (to me) hoya sold as H. biakensis though I understand it is most likely a form of H. collina but it's a beauty. The leaves are just a bit larger than a quarter Hoya collina sp. from Biak with some great silver splashing, is that the same as what you are growing?
I have two different forms of this species but the one you see in the photo does not look quite the same anymore. I assume that it was grown in very bright light because it is much darker green now and the new growth is not nearly as succulent. My plant it still tiny although it is now just beginning to put out some growth but it's a fragile little one until it gets well established so you have to watch the moisture levels closely. The name Hoya biakensis is not an accepted name so it would be better to call it Hoya sp Biak. The commonly available form of Hoya collina is more plain but sp Biak and Irian Jaya 26 (IR 26) are very pretty plants.
Carolyn if you can't find Hoya microstemma then eitapensis and anulata are very close. I know Paul Shirley has Hoya microstemma but other than that it's probably most available from the Thai growers.
Mike, I have both eitapensis and anulata. :) Nice plants.
ELB - I have both sp. Biak and collina. Til now, I didn't realize they were basically the same plant! hahaha I really like collina more. It grows beautifully for me. ;)
I routinely check the Tradera pages for hoyas but have never seen microphylla on there and there's a good number of Swedish growers who have it.
Seeing it listed for sale even in Sweden is quite tempting but as I said earlier,I have had a few experiences with this hoya and not one has been a good one!!! The most impressive cutting that I ever had of it came from Sweden and was probably close to 2 ft long and rooted from one end to the other in sphagnum moss. It arrived very quickly from Sweden and was quite green and healthy upon arrival but within days it was yellowing and on it's way out!!! So even if you receive a cutting which is already rooted,it can be VERY difficult to get it going again and keep it alive.
I have been told that it is not that difficult of a hoya to grow,it's just getting it to root and get started!!!
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