Hoya taxonomy and research

Michele Rodda is a botanist whose research includes the taxonomy of Hoya and related plants. The Singapore Botanic Gardens staff directory lists him in its Singapore Herbarium and Plant Taxonomy team. His stated interests include Apocynaceae across Southeast Asia and New Guinea, field expeditions and botanical illustration.^[1]

The International Plant Names Index records his botanical author abbreviation as Rodda. Its author record gives Hoya danumensis Rodda & Nyhuus, published in Webbia in 2009, as an example of a name he coauthored. An author abbreviation identifies participation in publishing a botanical name; it does not establish the identity of every cultivated plant carrying that name.^[2]

Tracing names to specimens

Rodda’s 2017 Index of names and types of Hoya of Borneo brings together names, synonyms and type citations for the island’s Hoyas. It designates lectotypes, neotypes and epitypes where needed. These specimen references help researchers trace how botanical names are anchored and compare later uses of those names with their original material.^[3]

Clarifying Hoya wallichii

In 2016, Rodda, Nadhanielle Simonsson Juhonewe and David J. Middleton published a study of Hoya wallichii and H. campanulata. They compared herbarium specimens with living material and concluded that the two are distinct species. The paper also traced the application of the name H. wallichii, including Christine M. Burton’s 1996 combination and her use of the name for material later identified as H. danumensis.^[4]

This work shows why a historical label, a published name and a specimen identification need to be examined together. For a particular plant, the original description, cited specimens and subsequent taxonomic studies offer a stronger starting point than a name alone.

Sources and further reading

1. Singapore Botanic Gardens. Our Team, Michele Rodda entry. Directory updated 2 September 2026; checked 25 October 2026.
2. International Plant Names Index. Rodda, Michele, author record 20016254-1. Checked 25 October 2026.
3. Rodda, M. (2017). Index of names and types of Hoya (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae) of Borneo. Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore 69(1): 33–65. DOI: 10.3850/S2010098116000039. Scope described on p. 33.
4. Rodda, M., Simonsson Juhonewe, N. & Middleton, D.J. (2016). The taxonomic status of the presumed extinct Singaporean Hoya wallichii (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae). Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore 68(2): 175–187; historical discussion and comparisons on pp. 176–177.