Hoya 'Chouke' is a sister plant of Hoya 'Mathilde' - literally. In January 1995, a remarkable plant called Hoya 'Chouke' came into existence unintentionally when the seedpod, resulting from a cross between Hoya carnosa and Hoya serpens, unexpectedly split open. Its companion, Hoya 'Mathilde', also originated from the same seedpod. These two extraordinary plants were introduced to the world by Emilio Begine, who named Mathilde after a princess and 'Chouke' after his wife.

The flowers of both plants are very similiar except that 'Chouke' has more of an orange color in the center. Foliage is also very similiar, but 'Chouke' has a lot less flecks or sometimes no flecks.

The genus was named in Modern Latin in honor of English gardener and botanist Thomas Hoy (c. 1750-1822).