Hoya meliflua
Encyclopedia
Hoya meliflua is a vine native to the Philippines
. It has stiff succulent leaves with a very clean look to them with no venation. The flowers are reddish orange and have nectaries near the base of the central column from which a dark sap is produced that stains very easily. In fact, its name is derived from the word "mellis" meaning honeydew and the word "fluo" meaning flow, referring to the dark nectar of the plant that stains the flowers. The plant flowers in June in the Philippines and each flower cluster comes with 10-20 flowers. Hoya meliflua is very similar to Hoya Fraterna and is sometimes called 'the little fraterna'. The vine is common to Apayao
, La Union
, Rizal
, Bataan
, Laguna, Mindoro
, Palawan
, Negros, Panay
, and Leyte
. There is also a subspecies called Hoya meliflua ssp. fraterna that has longer, narrower leaves.
, who mistakenly identified it as a Stapelia
. He called it Stapelia meliflua.
Elmer Drew Merrill
subsequently identified it as a Hoya and published it in Sp. Blancoanae 318 (1918) naming it Hoya meliflua. Hoya was originally found on the island of Luzon
and so it was given the synonym Hoya Luzonica by Rudolf Schlechter in 1905. There are several other synonyms for Hoya meliflua including Hoya carnosa named by Blanco in 1845, Hoya Diversifolia by Fernandez in 1880, and Hoya parasitica by Fernandez in 1880. These synonyms were found to be invalid under Article 53.1 of international nomenclature.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. It has stiff succulent leaves with a very clean look to them with no venation. The flowers are reddish orange and have nectaries near the base of the central column from which a dark sap is produced that stains very easily. In fact, its name is derived from the word "mellis" meaning honeydew and the word "fluo" meaning flow, referring to the dark nectar of the plant that stains the flowers. The plant flowers in June in the Philippines and each flower cluster comes with 10-20 flowers. Hoya meliflua is very similar to Hoya Fraterna and is sometimes called 'the little fraterna'. The vine is common to Apayao
Apayao
Apayao is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its administrative capital is Luna and founding capital Kabugao. It borders Cagayan to the north and east, Abra and Ilocos Norte to the west, and Kalinga to the south...
, La Union
La Unión
La Union or La Unión may refer to:-Colombia:*La Unión, Antioquia*La Unión, Nariño*La Unión, Sucre*La Unión, Valle del Cauca-Peru:*La Unión Province, Peru...
, Rizal
Rizal
Rizal is a province located in the CALABARZON , just 16 kilometers east of Manila. The province was named after the country's national hero, José Rizal. Rizal Governor Casimiro A. Ynares III on June 17, 2008 announced the transfer of the Capitol from Pasig. Its P 270-million capitol building,...
, Bataan
Bataan
Bataan is a province of the Philippines occupying the whole of the Bataan Peninsula on Luzon. The province is part of the Central Luzon region. The capital of Bataan is Balanga City and it is bordered by the provinces of Zambales and Pampanga to the north...
, Laguna, Mindoro
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh-largest island in the Philippines. It is located off the coast of Luzon, and northeast of Palawan. The southern coast of Mindoro forms the northeastern extremum of the Sulu Sea.-History:...
, Palawan
Palawan
Palawan is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region or Region 4. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, and it is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the...
, Negros, Panay
Panay
Panay may refer to*Panay Island*Panay *Panay, Capiz*Panay River*Panay Gulf* USS Panay *Panay incident...
, and Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
. There is also a subspecies called Hoya meliflua ssp. fraterna that has longer, narrower leaves.
Discovery
Hoya meliflua was first described in 1837 by Francisco Manuel BlancoFrancisco Manuel Blanco
Francisco Manuel Blanco was a Spanish friar and botanist.-Biography:He was a member of the Augustinian order. His first assignment was in Angat in the province of Bulacan in the Philippines. He subsequently had a variety different assignments...
, who mistakenly identified it as a Stapelia
Stapelia
The genus Stapelia consists of around 40 species of low growing, spineless, stem succulent plants, predominantly from South Africa. The flowers of certain species, most notably Stapelia gigantea, can reach 41 cm in diameter when fully open...
. He called it Stapelia meliflua.
Elmer Drew Merrill
Elmer Drew Merrill
Elmer Drew Merrill was an American botanist, specializing in the flora of the Asia-Pacific region.He was born in East Auburn, Maine, and attended the University of Maine where he received a B.S. in 1898...
subsequently identified it as a Hoya and published it in Sp. Blancoanae 318 (1918) naming it Hoya meliflua. Hoya was originally found on the island of Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
and so it was given the synonym Hoya Luzonica by Rudolf Schlechter in 1905. There are several other synonyms for Hoya meliflua including Hoya carnosa named by Blanco in 1845, Hoya Diversifolia by Fernandez in 1880, and Hoya parasitica by Fernandez in 1880. These synonyms were found to be invalid under Article 53.1 of international nomenclature.