Dischidia cleistantha is a close cousin of the Hoya both being members of the family Apocynaceae, and as such we love this plant here at Vermont Hoyas. It is not particularly well suited for life here in the northern climes, but with a little accommodation room can be found for it in a terrarium, or other suitable habitat like a grow tent. I think that it is well worth the effort.
Dischidia cleistantha is a native of the Philippines and was described in 2003. I grow mine on sphagnum moss covered tubing which gets misted daily and submerged in a nutrient solution twice weekly.
The flowers of Dischidia cleistantha are among the largest of the Dischidias, but are still quite small topping out at around 1/4 inches in length (6.25 mm). Here is a close-up taken with a high power magnification lens.
Hoya papaschonii is a super little Hoya to grow and play around with; I urge all of you to pick one up if you can find it. Be sure not to over water it like I did as it is a true epiphyte. If one of my cuttings take hold, I will be back at a later date with this one. If not, then these will be my final photos of this little charmer.
Here are a couple of extreme close-ups of a bud of Hoya papaschonii and a flower taken with my Canon MP-E 65mm f2.8 manual focus lens.
Sadly after I transplanted Hoya papaschonii from to Growstones to my regular potting mix, I over watered and the plant went downhill in a hurry. I was able to take 3 small cuttings, and hopefully at least one will take as I had gotten rather attached to this little Hoya. I love this little photo with the blurred background!
Hoya papaschonii was named after Papaschon Chamwong who sent a specimen to Michael Rodda at the Singapore Botanic Gardens for identification in 2012.
Hoya papaschonii flowers are similar to Hoya telosmoides and it falls within the group of Hoyas which include Hoya multiflora, and Hoya praetorii.
Here is a final photo of Hoya manipurensis, for now, magnified to three time the size of the camera’s sensor.
Although my miserable specimen is only around four inches (10cm) high, it has a multitude of buds and flowers. The flowers are incredibly small, but it gives me the opportunity to pull out my big macro lens, the Canon MP-E 65mm Manual Focus, to photograph it up close and personal.
