When I first saw it, I was surprised. It starts out this reddish or bronze-y pink and slowly turns green. In the pic the leaf is in the process of turning green, but it takes its time, so you get to enjoy it for a while. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that leaf is no longer with me. I had some great growth when I first got it, and then negative growth. Basically, I'm back where I started, minus a leaf but plus a bit of vine. Keeping my fingers crossed that the new nubbins of growth are the start of good things to come. I think it is sensitive to cold, and it was close to my window over the winter. Whoops, didn't know better. It's on a list of hoyas that don't want to get any colder than 70F on one site, and another says no lower than 17C (about 63F). So it really wants to stay warm. My australis did have some cute little reddish leaves on its new growth. Red tipped with green. It very quickly turned all green though. It was a fair distance away from my window at the time. Now it is on my shelf, south facing window but behind a kerrii. Hope it likes it there.

Nancy! That picture looks so inviting and warm! I love how that Hoya has taken off...Mine is still doing good, The Lias one that is, and oh I have such hope for it because of you:-)))) Many good wishes from us here in good ole Mass.. By the way, I finally had to bring in ALL my Hosta today..I am so bummed out and crowded out with more Hoya that I thought I had..Sheesh! Feelers and hanging everywhere..I just might get caught up in one hanging from my ceiling and choke to death lol Mike

That I don't know. But many Hoya cultivars are named for the locality where they were originally found. Lizard Island is just off the coast near Cape Melville. It's a "mainland" island in that it's part of the mainland that's become separated, rather than a coral or sand island. H. australis ssp sanae is mainly centred on the Cape Melville area. Wind dispersed seeds, like Hoya, would easily reach the island and establish themselves. Or they might be there from when the island was attached to the mainland. But that's a good lead for identifying your plant. You can check against the description: ssp. sanae- pubescence varies but always pubescent. this ssp. is more xerophytic than ssp tenuipes and ssp australis, but still viney. It has small quilted leaves that have recurved edges. Flowers May to July in Australia. It occurs on sand near the beach in Australia. (I don't have access to the full description but someone else here might.)

Well you need a permt from the USDA in order to legally import plants into the country. You have to file for the permit listing the countries from which you are going to be importing plants. You have to set up an account with the USDA and get approved at a local office. Once your account is set up you have to print out stickers to send to the vendor to use (or email them the sticker file to print out). Then all the vendors we have ever worked with charge about $75 to prepare all the phytosanitation certificates. You can't just click buy on ebay and think you're ok.