THE 



&ABBECI §IJi©E, 



jANUAEr, 1864. 



CULTUEE OE HOYA. 



°\~WO of the species of Hoya, namely bella and carnosa, 

 ^ have acq uired such celebrity, that, with but few excep- 

 v tious, it is only in gardens where the means for their 

 culture really do not exist that there is no attempt 

 made to bring them to perfection, and indeed the 

 attempt is often made where there are no means, and where 

 it is consequently a sheer impossibility for the plants to live 

 long, much less acquire perfection. Like many other subjects 

 that require peculiar treatment, the Hoya may either prove 

 very troublesome or "grow like a weed," just as the treatment 

 is adapted to its wants, or the reverse; but it is imperious in its 

 demands, as it is imperial in its beauty, and with Stephanotis and Man- 

 devillea it takes its proper rank, as one of the most lovely of climbers 

 for the conservatory and the stove. 



The genus Hoya is named in honour of Mr. Hoy, once gardener at 

 Sion House. It belongs to the natural order of Asclcpiads, in which 

 it has for associates the beautiful (and odorous !) Sfcapelia, Asclepias, 

 Periploca, Caralluma, and other stove, greenhouse, and hardy plants. 

 In the Linnaean system it belongs to Pentandria digynia. The species 

 of Hoya are mostly natives of Java, Borneo, China, and the East Indies. 

 One, R. australis, is a native of the country from which it takes its 

 name. The general characteristics of the Hoyas are — climbing ever- 

 greens, with dark green, smooth, entire, leathery leaves, the flowers, 

 produced in umbels, having a delicate appearance as if made of wax, the 

 colours of the flowers usually white, yellow, brown, or purple, and 

 largely productive of honey, for which reason it is sometimes called the 

 honey-plant. To grow the species of this charming genus to perfection 

 is by no means difficult, provided the cultivator has command of the 

 necessary conditions for success. 



VOL. VII. — NO. I. p 



