As near as I can discern from a little online research, the dark flowered form of Hoya stenaokei was discovered on a 2018/2019 expedition to a low land primary forest (Timika Forest) in Arso Keerom, Papua Province, West Indonesia.
I received various chopped up barely rooted cuttings of plants labeled Hoya stenaokei in May of 2022 from Indonesia in an Etsy transaction. Two of them had pubescent leaves and one had glabrous leaves. I potted them up, put them in my warm humid grow tent and anxiously awaited signs of growth. I did not even know for sure if the glabrous leafed cutting was really stenaokei, or not and I was prepared for a long wait. Both clones rooted pretty rapidly, but it took quite some time before any new growth appeared. Eventually both types started growing with Nathalie’s clone growing much more rapidly, putting on three new leaves for every one leaf that the glabrous clone put on.
Finally after about 1 year, both plants put on their first peduncle and I was lucky enough to get to see them flower at the same time. Here is a comparison photo of both plants in their first flowering about a year ago. Notice in the photo below the shear difference in the size of the plants with the dark form on the left having about one third the mass of Nathalie’s clone on the right. Both plants were grown identically using coconut husk chips as the medium.
Besides the lack of pubescence, and the much slower growth habit of the dark flowered H. stenaokei clone, here are the few differences that a hobbyist like me can spot: The dark version has slightly larger flowers, drips more nectar, slightly different looking coronas, and seems more floriferous then NS12-222.
If you can find the dark flowered form of Hoya stenaokei, I urge you to pick one up. The growth is much more easily contained than H. stenaokei (NS12-222), and it is slightly more floriferous. I have to say that of all the plants in the Macgillivrayi Complex the one that has the best, strongest scent is Hoya macgillivrayi itself. So don’t buy this one for the scent, buy it for the spectacular flowers and easy care. I give it my highest recommendation!