Hoya imbricata is a species of plant in the genus Hoya native to the Philippines and the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.[1][2] It is unusual for its large, decorative, mottled green and purple dome-shaped leaves of some 25 centimetres (9.8 in) in diameter, which offer shelter to ant colonies.

Hoya imbricata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Hoya
Species:
H. imbricata
Binomial name
Hoya imbricata

The succulent leaves are like upturned dinner plates, convex on the outer surface and concave on the inner, hugging the tree-trunk on which the plant grows, and overlapping or imbricate in the fashion of roof tiles.[3] While other species of Hoya and the related genus Dischidia grow in a similar habit, Hoya imbricata is also unusual in having only one leaf per internode.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Hoya imbricata". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  2. ^ a b Kleijn, David; van Donkelaar, Ruurd (2001-01-01). "Notes on the taxonomy and ecology of the genus Hoya (Asclepiadaceae) in Central Sulawesi". Blumea: Biodiversity, Evolution and Biogeography of Plants. 46 (3): 457–483. ISSN 2212-1676.
  3. ^ Albers, Focke; Meve, Ulrich (2012-12-06). Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Asclepiadaceae. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 152. ISBN 978-3-642-56370-6.