Hoya imbricata Decne. is a unique wax plant with large, silver-splashed, bowl-shaped leaves, which may grow up to 25 cm in diameter.
The succulent leaves are like inverted dinner plates, convex on the outside and concave on the inside. They hug the trunk of the tree on which the plant grows and overlap or interlace like roof tiles. While other Hoya species and the related genus Dischidia have a similar growth habit, Hoya imbricata is also unusual because it has only one leaf per internode
It is a myrmecophilous species (living in symbiosis with ants), in fact the cavity formed by the leaves, besides protecting the roots and creating a humid microenvironment for them, offers shelter to colonies of small ants which, in turn, provide nutrients for the growth of the plant.
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The genus was named in Modern Latin in honor of English gardener and botanist Thomas Hoy (c. 1750-1822).
Hoya imbricata
Hoya imbricata; comes in a ⌀ 17 cm pot and is ca 10 cm tall.
