Hoya of Papuasia I. 
129 
elongated, flat to erect, outer processes apex rounded to acute when observed from 
above, slightly erect both higher and lower than inner corona apex, grooved between 
inner and outer processes, not fused with filament tube, with basal revolute margins. 
Style-head convex, hidden by both anther appendages and inner corona processes. 
Pollinia oblong, 650 x 270 pm, with sterile edge, corpusculum oblong, c. 310 x 170 
pm, caudicles attached at the sides of corpusculum, c. 100 pm long. Ovary conical 
with a rounded to distinct mammillate tip, c. 2 mm long; each carpel c. 1 mm wide at 
base, glabrous. Fruits c. 18 cm long, 0.5 cm wide, purplish. Seeds not observed. 
Distribution. Recorded pr im arily at 1800-2600 m on Mount Kaindi in Morobe 
Province, Mount Pimbilyo in Enga Province and along the Kokoda Track in Central 
and Oro Provinces. 
Etymology. Named after the Krusenstiern family, supporters of the first author’s work 
in PNG. 
Habitat and ecology. Hoya krusenstierniana has the highest altitudinal record for 
Hoy a in Malesia, as it grows at 1800-2600 m. The second highest record for the genus 
is Hoya nyhuusiae Kloppenb. which is found up to 2200 m on Mt Kinabalu in Sabah 
(Borneo). On the summit of Mount Kaindi, Hoya krusenstierniana is found creeping 
and twining on dwarf mossy trees or on a thick layer of moss on the ground, both under 
shade and in fully exposed locations. It is also found twining among taller growth 
where it produces bigger leaves on the slopes near the summit or towards Edie Creek 
mine. It flowers throughout the year. 
Provisional IUCN conservation assessment. Endangered EN Blab(iii) (IUCN, 
2016). The type locality was already disturbed when the species was first collected 
in the 1960s; however it was still abundant during the most recent collection in 2012. 
However, now the area faces a rapidly expanding population so when the first author 
was there in 2012, people had begun settling down on the summit of Mount Kaindi and 
were in process of clearing both the primary and secondary forest to create subsistence 
gardens. This, in combination with people practising slash-and-bum agriculture 
downhill which can lead to rapidly spreading out-of-control fires, may pose threats to 
the future of the type locality. However, the species has also been recorded on other 
mountain tops (Tari & Reeve 4352 , Carr 13714), suggesting it may be thriving on 
several of Papua New Guinea’s uninhabited cold mountain tops too inaccessible for 
expeditions and most subsistence gardeners. The type locality has seen a decline in the 
population of Hoya krusenstierniana and only rather old collections are known from 
the other localities. 
Additional specimens examined. PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Morobe Province: Mount Kaindi, 
7°25'S 146°45'E, Nothofagus forest understorey, 7500 ft [c. 2285 m], 9 Oct 1964, Womersley, 
J.S. NGF 19432 (LAE, L n.v., BRI n.v., CANB n.v.); Mount Kaindi, S 7 20, E 146 45, 6500 
ft [c. 1980 m], 9 April 1965, Taylor, G. J. NGF 20965 (LAE, L n.v.); Mount Kaindi, 7°25'S 
146°45'E, regrowth of mossy forest, 7500 ft [c. 2285 m], 24 April 1965, Womersley, J.S. NGF 
24514 (LAE); Edie Creek, 7°20'S 146°45E, vine on undergrowth, 6500 ft [c. 1980 m], 15 Jan 
1966, Henty, E.E. NGF 27170 (LAE, L n.v.); Mount Kaindi, understorey of montane forest, 
