Join me in this post to tell you all the things you need for Hoya leaf identification from the table of their characteristic to charts for their identification and pictures of 20 Hoya species. Keep reading.
Hoya is one of the best vining plants with various leaves and stunning flowers. Hence, I decided to share with you my experiences and knowledge about different types of Hoya plants.
people often ask me about Hoya leaf identification because their Hoya plants don’t have blooms still. You may be shocked if I tell you there are more than 520 species in the genus Hoya. So, Identification of this popular hanging plant can be challenging.
However, I collected 20 of the most common Hoya species with pictures and their leaf characteristics in this post and created tables and charts to simplify the Hoya leaf identification for you. let’s start our journey to the Hoya species world.
➡ You can also hear the audio version of this article.
The size of leaves is one of the ways that people often try to identify their Hoya plant. In this part, I provide some of the common types of hoya plants with different leaf sizes. let’s find these Hoya plants. It will help you to choose the best one to buy.
Here I provide a list of 4 Hoya varieties with small leaves.
Here, you can see a list of the 5 hoya big leaves plants.
The below hoya plants have long leaves. You can consider them as narrow-leaf hoya varieties too.
I divided various types of Hoya plants into 6 groups based on their leaf shape:
If you are not familiar with the various shapes of leaves, I recommend reading my article “Houseplant Identification by Leaf”. There, I discussed the various types of leaves in detail. I created the following table to simplify Hoya leaf identification for you.
Leaf Shape | Leaf Size | |
Hoya kerrii
(Sweetheart Hoya) |
Heart-shaped leaves | Large and thick |
Hoya obovata
(Hoya Wax Plant) |
Thick round shape (Obovate-shaped leaves) | Medium-sized |
Hoya linearis
(String Bean Hoya) |
Linear, narrow-shaped | Long and slender |
Hoya compacta
(Hindu Rope Hoya) |
Curled and twisted, giving a rope-like appearance that is Waxy leaves with a slightly succulent type. | Small to medium-sized |
Hoya carnosa
(Wax Plant) |
Oval to elliptical-shaped | Medium-sized |
Hoya australis
(Common Waxflower) |
Oval to elliptical-shaped | Large |
Hoya diversifolia
(Hoya Vine) |
Broad, Oval to elliptical-shaped shaped | Medium to large-sized |
Hoya imperialis
(Royal Wax Flower) |
Broad, elliptical-shaped | Large and thick |
Hoya wayetii
(Wax Plant Hybrid) |
Oblong to elliptical-shaped | Medium-sized |
Hoya serpens
(Hoya Rope) |
Small, Broad ovate-shaped | Small |
Hoya finlaysonii
(Fishtail Hoya) |
Broad, ovate-shaped leaves with a distinct fishtail-like appearance. | Medium to large-sized |
Hoya nummularioides
(Wax Plant) |
Flat, ovate -shaped | Small |
Hoya krohniana
(Silver Hoya) |
Oval to lanceolate-shaped that are dark green leaves with silver flecks or markings | Small |
Hoya pubicalyx
(Hoya Vine) |
Oval to lanceolate-shaped | Medium-sized |
Hoya pubicalyx
‘Splash’ (Variegated Hoya Vine) |
Oval to lanceolate-shaped variegated leaves with patterns of green, pink, and white. | Medium-sized |
Hoya lacunosa
(Fishtail Hoya) |
Oval to lanceolate-shaped | Small to medium-sized |
Hoya multiflora
(Shooting Star Hoya) |
Oval to lanceolate-shaped | Medium-sized |
Hoya macrophylla
(Giant Leaf Hoya) |
Large, lanceolate-shaped | Large |
Hoya bella
(Miniature Wax Plant) |
Small, lanceolate-shaped | Small |
Hoya archboldiana
(Archbold’s Hoya) |
Narrow, lanceolate-shaped | Medium to large-sized |
In the following, I created charts for Hoya Leaf Identification based on Their leaf shape and size. I put at least 21 types of Hoya varieties I think these charts will help you with Hoya leaf identification.
Here, I provided a hoya species list with pictures. You can find your intended Hoya types by scrolling through pictures. If you want to identify your Hoya plant, the following images can be helpful, However, I recommend paying attention to the characteristic keys before trying for Hoya leaf identification.
Leaf Shape:
Leaf Size:
Leaf Color:
Leaf Texture:
Leaf Veins:
Leaf Arrangement:
My meaning of leaf arrangement is how the leaves are arranged on the stem. It can be:
And now, let’s look at this hoya species list with pictures. Some of them such as Hoya carnosa ‘Compacta are rare hoya species.
Common name: Wax Plant
Common name: Sweetheart Hoya
Common name: Hoya Vine
Common name: Common Waxflower
Common name: Fishtail Hoya
Common name: Miniature Wax Plant
Common name: Hoya Rope
Common name: Archbold’s Hoya
Common name: Royal Wax Flower
Common name: String Bean Hoya
Common name: Hoya Wax Plant
Common name: Shooting Star Hoya
Common name: Wax Plant Hybrid
Common name: Variegated Hoya Vine
Common name: Giant Leaf Hoya
Common name: Hindu Rope Hoya
Common name: Fishtail Hoya
Common name: Silver Hoya
Common name: Wax Plant
Common name: Hoya Vine
I shared with you my knowledge of Hoya leaf identification. I’ve collected the collection of Hoya species with their Pictures and tried to make their identification easy for you by creating tables and charts of their leaf characteristics.
Do you know other Hoya species that I haven’t mentioned above? Can you tell me its name below this page? If you cannot Identify your Hoya plant, you can take pictures and send me (inhouseplant2017@gmail.com) to identify your Hoya species. In addition, I know a plant identification tool that works well with high accuracy: the “House plant identifier”. This is a free online tool and working with it is very easy. I tested this tool not only for plant identification but also to identify plant diseases and mushrooms.
Hi, I’m Elaheh. My Academic major is plant protection, and houseplants are my expertise. As a houseplant lover, my house is full of indoor plants and it is my passion to take care of them. Hence, I’m here to share my knowledge and experience about growing healthy houseplants. I am also a plant protection advisor, so feel free to ask me any questions you may have.