Hoya engleriana is native to Southeast Asia. It grows as an epiphytic subshrub (on trees) in the wet tropical biome. It is notably found in cloud forests and misty mountainous ranges
Hoya engleriana was formally described by Carl Christian Hosseus (1878-1950), a German botanist. He published its description in 1907 in "Notizblatt des Königlichen Botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin."
The species was named in honor of Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (1844-1930), a prominent German botanist, professor, and director of the Botanical Garden in Berlin.