Hoya aldrichii

Hoya aldrichii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Asclepiadoideae
Genus: Hoya
Species: H. aldrichii
Binomial name
Hoya aldrichii
Hemsl.[1]

Hoya aldrichii , commonly known as the Christmas Island Waxvine is a species of flowering plant in the Apocynaceae or dogbane family. It is a vine that is endemic to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the north-eastern Indian Ocean, where it is a common epiphyte in the shrublands of the island’s coastal terraces. The specific epithet honours Captain Aldrich, commander of the survey vessel HMS Egeria, which visited Christmas Island in 1887.[2]

Description

Hoya aldrichii is a tall climber. Its stems are glabrous with pale bark. The leaves are elliptical, rounded at the base, entire, acuminate or acute and glabrous; they are 75–150 mm long, 35–60 mm wide, with a 10–15 mm long petiole. The flowers occur in umbels of 15–30, are white through pink to deep purple-pink in colour, and are fragrant at night. The seeds are oblong and about 5 mm long.[2]

Taxonomy

The vine has at times been considered close to, or even synonymous with, H. cinnamomifolia Hook., H. pottsii Traill., and H. diversifolia Blume.[2]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Hemsley (1890).
  2. 1 2 3 Flora of Australia Online.

Sources


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