Hoya platycaulis is a native of the Philippines and was published by Simonsson & Rhodda in 2005. The plant got its name from Latin platys and caulis for “flat” and “stem,” respectively. The trait that all new stem growth is flat seems to be unique to this Hoya.  As the growth matures the flat stems will become rounder in time.

I first heard about Hoya platycaulis a number of years ago in a Hoya forum, and have wanted one ever since.  I never pursued acquiring it seriously, because one, I almost never saw it available, and two, it was way too expensive when I did find one. A good Hoya friend had Ted Green send me a cutting of the plant over the summer, and despite my best efforts, I could not get it to root.

Every once and awhile, you get lucky.  I happened to check eBay to see what was new and low and behold, Gardino had listed a Hoya platycaulis plant in flower for sale, and miracle of miracles, it was a buy it now and not an auction. The price was $57 and while it was the most that I ever intentionally paid for a Hoya, I jumped on it. The plant arrived a week later with flowers still intact.  So, in fact, I feel like I cheated on these flowers as I did nothing to get them other than paying the price.

From my books and the internet, the one universal truth about Hoya platycaulis seems to be that it is extremely difficult to propagate, and my one attempt at it seems to bear that out.  If I am successful growing this plant and flowering it, I will update this page.  If not, I’m still glad that I got to experience the flowers of this very cool Hoya for myself!