Hoodia Sweet ex Decene
A genus of cactus-like succulent plants endemic to the very arid areas of southern Africa and the southwestern corner of Angola.
 Hoodia gordonii Tetraploid Cultivar HG-NC9 |
Taxonomic Identification of the Genus Hoodia
The taxonomy of this group has undergone many changes. Three synonyms for this genus name are:
Monothylaceum G.Don
Scytanthus Hook.
Trichocaulon N.E.Br.
Peter Bruyn’s reference (Bruyns 2006a,b) remains the most comprehensive and current reference on the taxonomy, identification and distribution of Hoodia. The Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants (Albers and Meve 2004) is also an excellent reference on their taxonomy.
Identification of Species on this Website
We are not trained as botanists and for our research and development purposes the precise identification of species is of low importance. The species names associated with our plants and the photographs on the species information pages in this section are generally those provided by sellers of the original parent plants obtained early in our research program and continued with the lines of the seed bearing plants in the subsequent generation unless their morphology clearly does not match those of the original plants or species identification. All of the successive generations of came from open pollination and hybrids may form between the various Hoodia species. Many of our cultivars are putative hybrids.
The structure of flowers is probably the most important diagnostic information used to identify species. Where available we will include macro photographs of the flower centers of representative plants from our cultivars in the species information pages to assist those interested in determining their identification.
The Kew Royal Botanic Gardens reference Planta of the World Online lists 13 accepted species names in the genus. Our listing pages also include some others that are synonyms of accepted species. These are reflected in the page names listed below.
Species in the genus Hoodia include:
Hoodia gordonii (Bitter Ghaap, Bushman’s Hat, Kalahari cactus, Xhoba)
Hoodia grandis = Hoodia pilifera subsp. pillansii (N.E.Br.)
Hoodia macrantha = Hoodia currorii currorii
Improved varieties (cultivars) of Hoodia species that we have developed include:
Hoodia gordonii, diploid
Hoodia gordonii, tetraploid
Hoodia gordonii, hybridization and ploidy undetermined
Hoodia juttae, hybridization and ploidy undetermined
Hoodia macrantha, hybridization and ploidy undetermined
Hoodia parviflora, hybridization and ploidy undetermined
Hoodia parviflora, putative interspecific hybrid, ploidy undetermined
Hoodia ruschii, hybridization and ploidy undetermined
References:
Albers F, Meve U. 2004. Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Asclepidaceae. Focke Albers, Ulrich Meve, (eds). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 3540419640.
Bruyns PV. 2006a. Chapter 4. Hoodia. In: Stapeliads of Southern Africa and Madagascar, Vol. I Hatfield, South Africa: Umdaus Press., 92-129.
Bruyns PV. 2006b. Chapter 21 Hybrids. In: Stapeliads of Southern Africa and Madagascar, Vol. II Hatfield, South Africa: Umdaus Press., 575-576.
Kew (Kew Royal Botanic Gardens). 2019m. Planta of the World Online. Hoodia Sweet ex Decne. http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:972990-1