Hoya paradisea (Pink)

Unrooted cutting of Hoya paradisea (Pink flowers).
One node.

Hoya paradisea (Pink Flowers) is a recently described New Guinea Hoya species known for its graceful narrow foliage and unusually large, bell-shaped flowers with distinctive fringed margins.

The leaves are elliptic to lance-shaped, medium green, and relatively thin compared with many thick-leaved Hoyas. Mature leaves were described at approximately 5–8 cm long and 1.5–3 cm wide. The plant develops long climbing vines as well as shorter horizontal flowering branches with more closely spaced leaves.

The flowers are the real attraction. Hoya paradisea produces clusters of approximately 7–10 large, bell-shaped blooms. The corolla is creamy white and may develop a soft pinkish hue, while the center is creamy yellow with maroon coloration. The edges of the flowers are lined with unusually long, fine hairs that move with even slight air movement.

The blooms are short-lived, generally lasting only about two days, and the original species description reports a noticeable nighttime fragrance reminiscent of rose and citrus, similar to rose geranium.

Hoya paradisea was discovered in lowland rainforest near the Black River in Western Province, Papua New Guinea. The original collection became accession NS11-159 and was later used as the type material when Nadhanielle Simonsson and Michele Rodda formally described the species in 2022. Additional plants resembling the species were subsequently documented in the Mimika region of Indonesian New Guinea.

The name “paradisea” refers to the extraordinarily diverse New Guinea rainforests, sometimes called Paradise forests.

Our plant circulates as the Pink-flowered form. “Pink” is used here as a horticultural descriptor rather than a formally established cultivar name. The intensity of pink coloration may vary between blooms and under different growing conditions.

Botanical name: Hoya paradisea Simonsson & Rodda
Form in cultivation: Pink Flowers
Native range: New Guinea
Type locality: Black River near Dahamo village, Western Province, Papua New Guinea
Original accession: NS11-159
First published: 2022
Notable features: Large campanulate flowers with delicately fringed margins, soft pink coloration, and a reported rose-and-citrus nighttime fragrance

A note about this plant: Species-level botanical and historical information above is based on the original published description and current taxonomic records. “Pink Flowers” is a horticultural designation under which this plant circulates and is not a formally established botanical variety or cultivar name. We do not possess original collection or accession documentation for our particular plant and cannot independently confirm or deny its relationship to a specific wild collection or accession.