Hoya from Thailand: Rare Hoya Cuttings and Rooted Plants for Collectors Abroad

Are rare hoya native to Thailand?

Some are, most are not. Kew World Checklist of Vascular Plants accepts 568 Hoya species, 53 list Thailand in their native range. Many plants sold as rare hoya come from Borneo, the Philippines or the Himalaya. A Thai grower is often a propagator, not a source.

The Thai list keeps growing. A Thai Forest Bulletin paper cites Kerr's 1951 Flora Siamensis Enumeratio: 24 hoya species in Thailand. A 2018 Taiwania paper by Chulalongkorn University botanists counts 48. Kew 2026 data gives 53. Hoya phuluangensis, described in that 2018 paper from northeastern Thailand, is a late addition.

Source: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Plants of the World Online data release of June 2026, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, kew.org.

NC State Extension gives Hoya carnosa as native to Southeast Asia, Japan and Taiwan. The Kew range for it stops at Laos on the mainland and does not include Thailand.

Hoya is a named Thai export. AIPH, the international association of horticultural producers, lists it in its 2024 country profile of Thailand.

ornamental plants exported include Sansevieria, Musa, Dracaena, Zoysia, Bougainvillea, Euphorbia, Ixora, Hoya, Plumeria, Aglaonema, and Adenium (desert rose).

Source: Country Profile Thailand, April 2024, AIPH, aiph.org.

The Hoya genus is very difficult to identify. The Taiwania paper says it very clearly.

Hoya still has an unclear taxonomic boundary and remains one of the most difficult genera to study

Source: A new species of Hoya (Marsdenieae), three new combinations and two new names in Vincetoxicum (Asclepiadeae) from Thailand, Taiwania 63(1), taiwania.ntu.edu.tw.

What is the species name? For a buyer it is the first question to put to a grower, because the USDA documents ask for it.

Is Hoya kerrii a Thai plant?

Yes. Hoya kerrii, the sweetheart hoya, was described in 1911 from a plant collected on Doi Sootep near Chiengmai. Kew lists Thailand in its native range, Indo-China to western Malesia.

William Grant Craib described it in the Kew Bulletin of 1911 from the collection Kerr 1810, found at an elevation of 390 meters. The same paper says a living plant went to Dublin.

A living plant sent by Dr. Kerr to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, which flowered there in August of the present year

Source: Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information 1911, No. 10, Contributions to the Flora of Siam, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Internet Archive copy.

Arthur Francis George Kerr (1877 to 1942) was a plant collector from Ireland who worked in Thailand. NC State Extension notes that the species name honors him. Hoya is named after Thomas Hoy, an 18th century gardener for the Duke of Northumberland.

Is hoya CITES-listed?

Hoya is not on CITES. In the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, the CITES Appendices valid from 5 March 2026 list only Hoodia, Pachypodium, Raphionacme zeyheri and Rauvolfia serpentina. A hoya box requires no CITES export or import permit.

Sources: CITES Appendices I, II and III valid from 5 March 2026, CITES Secretariat, cites.org; Checklist of CITES Species, CITES Secretariat and UNEP-WCMC, checklist.cites.org, read 2 November 2026.

Hoodia is a different genus with a similar name, and it is the one that is listed. Air plants are another case: three tillandsia species are CITES-listed, the tillandsia guide covers them.

Guide: tillandsia from Thailand

Do hoya cuttings and rooted plants need a USDA permit?

Unrooted cuttings and rooted plants follow one APHIS document, and Hoya is on its commodity list. No permit is required for 12 or fewer plants for planting. Each box needs a Thai phytosanitary certificate issued not more than 15 days before export.

Shipments of 12 or fewer plants for planting do not require a permit or a Green and Yellow Label (PPQ 508).

Source: Generally Admissible Woody Plants for Planting, Family Apocynaceae from Non-PCN Countries, USDA APHIS ACIR, acir.aphis.usda.gov.

ACIR defines plants as including a cutting, so one cutting is counted as one plant towards the 12. ACIR does not specify whether the 12 is per package, per consignment or per order. Splitting an order into small boxes is a question for APHIS, not a method.

From 13 plants the importer applies for PPQ 587 in APHIS eFile. Only U.S. residents may apply. APHIS says it can take up to 2 months. Thailand is not on the APHIS list of countries with potato cyst nematodes, so the Non-PCN document applies.

The certificate identifies the genus, and USDA strongly prefers the species or cultivar. The packing list gives the scientific name to the lowest plant taxon, each container is labeled with the genus and species. For a hybrid the certificate lists the parent taxa when known, if they cannot be fully listed it may state that the parents include no restricted taxon.

A line sold only as Hoya sp. names the genus but not the lowest taxon the packing list asks for. ACIR does not say whether that is accepted, so a collector asks the plant inspection station before ordering. The Thai phytosanitary certificate is issued on the Thai side before the box leaves.

Guide: phytosanitary certificate in Thailand

No hoya-specific restriction was found. The APHIS document on pest specific restrictions does not name Hoya or Apocynaceae. None of the nine ACIR documents returned for Hoya is a NAPPRA document.

Inspection still happens at the port. A University of Florida IFAS research note on hoya production describes mealybugs as white cottony masses in leaf axils, on lower surfaces of leaves and on the roots. Cuttings and rooted plants can both carry them. Under ACIR, the inspector decides what follows.

If a pest is found on any articles in a package, inspectors may order emergency measures (i.e. treatment, re-export or destruction).

Source: Generally Admissible Woody Plants for Planting, Family Apocynaceae from Non-PCN Countries, USDA APHIS ACIR, acir.aphis.usda.gov.

The buyer is responsible for ensuring the seller follows all the requirements listed in the permit (APHIS, How To Buy Plants and Seeds Online). The guide on sending plants to US buyers covers the same steps for other plants, the wholesale guide covers orders well above 12.

Source: How To Buy Plants and Seeds Online, USDA APHIS, aphis.usda.gov. Guides: sending plants from Thailand to US buyers, wholesale plant orders from Thailand

How old can a hoya be, and can it ship in moss or a pot?

Hoya plants must have 2 years of growth or less. They must arrive free of soil and growing media. Sphagnum moss is approved as packing only, not as a medium the plant may be growing in. Epiphytes on a short list of mounts are an exception.

All plants for planting at the time of importation into the United States must be free of sand, soil, earth, and other growing media, unless meeting an exception to these conditions.

Source: Generally Admissible Woody Plants for Planting, Family Apocynaceae from Non-PCN Countries, USDA APHIS ACIR, acir.aphis.usda.gov.

Perlite, vermiculite and expanded clay pellets are on the approved packing list next to sphagnum moss, same rule: plants must not be established or growing in any packing material. A rooted Hoya from a pot, a moss ball or a clay pellet system is washed and ships bare root.

What duty do hoya cuttings and rooted plants pay in the USA?

Unrooted cuttings pay 4.8% under HTS 0602.10.00 and are exempt from the 12.5% Section 301 tariff on products of Thailand. Rooted plants pay 3.5 or 4.8% plus the 12.5%: 160-173 USD per 1,000 USD of goods vs 48 USD for cuttings.

Source: Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, Revision 22 (2026), hts.usitc.gov, USITC.

the Trade Representative has determined to impose 12.5 percent tariffs on products of Thailand

Source: Notice of Actions in Section 301 Investigations, Office of the United States Trade Representative, federalregister.gov.

The 12.5% tariff applies from 24 July 2026. The chapter 99 note lists 0602.10.00 as excluded, it does not list the rooted lines. Which rooted line applies is open: NC State Extension describes hoya as epiphytic, climbing, evergreen herbaceous perennials, UF/IFAS calls the wax plant a semi-woody vine, ACIR files Hoya in its woody plants document. No CBP ruling for hoya was found, so the broker classifies the line.

The tariff text gives no root length at which an unrooted cutting becomes a rooted plant, so a cutting sold as starting to root is a question for the broker. The rates are general rates: HTS General Note 4 says Congress has not renewed the GSP program.

A CBP rule effective 24 June 2026 requires formal or informal entry for merchandise valued at 800 dollars or less arriving through any mode except the international postal network. The guide on the suspended de minimis explains it.

Guide: what the suspended de minimis means for a parcel from Thailand

What does a Thai grower need to export hoya?

A Thai grower needs a phytosanitary certificate from the Department of Agriculture, and nothing from CITES. Thai law counts stems, shoots and leaves as a plant, so a cutting needs the same certificate as a rooted plant.

Section 4 of the Plant Quarantine Act B.E. 2507 defines "plant" as including "any parts thereof such as the stems, buds, stocks, shoots, offshoots, branches, leaves, roots, rhizomes, bulbs, flowers, fruits, seeds". The same section defines the phytosanitary certificate as an official document issued by the competent authority of the exporting country "to verify that plant, plant germplasm or carrier is free from pests, in compliance with the importing country requirements".

Source: Plant Quarantine Act B.E. 2507, English version, Department of Agriculture, doa.go.th.

Thai Customs has not published any hoya statistics. Its tariff lines for HS 0602 have no entry for hoya, the two lines that would hold one are residual lines named Other. As far as the tariff text shows, a hoya cutting would sit in 06021090 and a rooted hoya in 06029090. No Thai ruling has been seen.

Source: Thai Customs Department, exports by tariff classification and by country, FOB baht, January to December 2025 and January to September 2026, customs.go.th.

Guide: plant export from Thailand in 2026, the numbers

How do hoya cuttings survive the trip from Thailand?

NC State Extension says most species are easily propagated by stem cuttings. UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions says it is easy to make new hoya plants by rooting stem cuttings. A UF/IFAS research note says wax plant cuttings root in 3 to 4 weeks. A peer-reviewed study from Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Tropical Life Sciences Research 2021, rooted stem cuttings of two species on Kew's Thai list without hormone.

both Hoya species were successfully propagated by stem cutting even without hormone treatment

Source: Vegetative Propagation of Hoya imperialis and Hoya coronaria by Stem Cutting and Micropropagation, Tropical Life Sciences Research 32(3), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

Sources for the extension statements: Hoya, NC State Extension; Hoya, UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions; Wax Plant (Hoya) Production Guide, CFREC-A Foliage Plant Research Note RH-91-35, University of Florida IFAS, Internet Archive copy of 13 August 2025.

Those sources describe rooting, not days in a closed box. The safe window for a box comes from the grower’s own experience and the courier’s transit time, not from a published figure.

Guide: which plants survive the flight from Thailand

How Dragon Courier ships hoya from Thailand

We send hoya via courier from Bangkok to the USA on our Delivery Duty Paid plant service. We offer a phytosanitary certificate free of charge for the USA and the UK. We hold an import permit for each market, please ask for a copy of the plants on our permit before booking.

Plants go bare root with new sphagnum moss. Each plant has different requirements, Dragon Courier recommends the plant seller packs the box. Collection is in an air-conditioned van made for plants, with temperature control door to door, and the service ships through winter. If customs holds a box, Dragon Courier works with USDA and the plant seller in Thailand for an urgent release.

Source: Dragon Plant Export Rate, valid 10 June 2026, inclusive of fuel surcharge.

Billed weight is actual or volumetric weight, whichever is greater. Volumetric weight is length times width times height in centimeters divided by 5,000. A box of cuttings is light and bulky, so volumetric weight sets the price.

Source: Dragon Plant Export Rate, valid 10 June 2026.

For Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico we offer 3 to 5 working days. For Europe the minimum weight is 2 kg. For Hong Kong the minimum weight is 5 kg. The shipper alone is responsible for declaration, value and compliance. Import rules for the UK, Canada, the EU, Singapore and Hong Kong are not covered here; the rules by country guide covers them.

Claims and delays on live plants: terms and conditions. Guides: importing plants from Thailand: rules by country, plant export from Thailand, shipping to the USA

About Dragon Courier

Dragon Courier is a family owned courier in Thailand with British heritage, more than 30 years of experience in logistics, more than 20,000 shipments a month and over 200 destinations.

Contacts and drop-off

We need the plant's name, the receiver's name, address and contact number. The weight and dimensions of the box set the shipping cost. Office +66 2656 9019. Justin on LINE and WhatsApp +66 6-5937-0812. info@dragoncourier.com.

Drop-off is until 5pm Monday to Saturday at our Bangkok office, 217/3 Crystal Garden Building, 3rd floor, Sukhumvit Soi 4, Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110. Pickup can be booked for a specific date and time.

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