Hoya myrmecopa is endemic to Sulawesi, which is an island governed by Indonesia; it used to be called Celebes. Back in the day when I was an aquarist I kept the Celebes Rainbow fish, so doing research for this plant was kind of like going home and brought back a lot of memories of my fishkeeping days. Hoya myrmecopa was found growing in holes in trunks and branches of trees that are also frequently occupied by ants and that is where it obtained its name.

I received this plant in the summer of 2017 from AH Hoyas in Thailand as a small plant rooted in coconut husk. It never did very well for me developing root rot on several occasions necessitating me have to start it over a number of times. I finally got this plant to grow well enough for me to get it to flower in February of 2019. I strongly suspect that I simply could not keep this plant warm enough to grow well. I also think that I was using a mix that held too much water and was not airy enough. If I still had the plant I would experiment with other growing media.

The flowers of Hoya myrmecopa rank among the worst smelling blooms of the genus, but we won’t hold that against them! The blooms are available in a few different colors; my clone was sold as purple. I no longer keep this plant but would like to give it another try someday, experimenting with some looser growing mediums and watering much less. The flowers are cute and a well grown plant is very nice to see.