Hoya peltata was first collected in November 1953 by Willem Meijer in North Kalimantan, Indonesia at low elevation. It lives in tropical dipterocarp forest, tightly adhered to tree bark in its native locale. The plant was described by Rodda and S. Rahayu in 2022 in The Gardens Bulletin Singapore. The name Hoya peltata was derived from the leaves which have a characteristic peltate base. Peltate means shield-shaped, with the petiole often attached on the underside of the leaf blade (lamina).

The Bay Area Hoya Group did an interview with me in early 2025 and asked me what I would like as gift for agreeing to partake in the program. I should say that they asked what Hoyas had caught my eye and were on my wish list. I mentioned Hoya pulleana and Hoya peltata. They were kind enough to gift rooted cuttings of both of these beautiful little plants. Hoya peltata came in the mail in April of 2025 as a cute little thing rooted in Fluval Stratum.

I was unfamiliar with the Fluval that it came rooted in so I moved it to coconut husk chips, and repotted in a 2 inch clear orchid pot. The plant grew slowly, but steadily. I noticed that the leaves turned much redder than the photos of the plant that I had seen online. It was due to the high light intensity of my grow tents. As the months went by and the plant grew larger I kept looking for a peduncle to appear, and I just could not spot any. I think this was because the peduncles are so slender and thread like that they looked just like leafless vines for the longest time. Finally I realized these “vines” were really very long thread like peduncles. I was very excited that these formed in under a year from having received the plant. Finally the threadlike peduncles started to form a bud on the end of each one. I was very excited to see what they were going to look like when opened. It seemed to take forever, but finally in May of 2026 the first flower opened. I quickly learned that these very tiny flowers are only fully opened first thing in the morning, and as the day goes one they partially close.

The flowers on Hoya peltata are extremely small. For perspective here is a photo comparing the open flower to a dime .

If you are looking for a great little Hoya that will never take up much space, look no further than Hoya peltata! Here is a plant that gets red sun stressed leaves, cute little flowers on the end of long peduncles that will never look like another Hoya. It makes one of the most unusual looking small specimens of almost any Hoya that I have encountered in 20+ years of growing. It gets my highest recommendation!