Hoodia pedicellata
Plant Family
Apocynacae (Formerly Asclepiadaceae), Subfamily Asclepiadoideae
Accepted Binomial Name
Hoodia pedicellata (Schinz) Plowes
Synonymous Binomial Names (Kew 2019j)
Ceropegia pedicellata (Schinz) Bruyns
Trichocaulon pedicellatum Schinz
Common (Vernacular) Names
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Subspecies
No subspecies have been identified.
Plant Characteristics
Endemicity. This species is found exclusively in the Namib desert region of advective fog south of Swakopmund in Namibia ranging closely to the north of Foz do Cunene in South-West Angola. Distribution assumedly confined to an 80 km wide coastal strip (Tränkle and Hübner (1992).
Growth Habit. The plant grows as a clump of up to about 20 nearly spineless stems that sprawl on rocks and may be pendulous. The stems are 100 to 250 mm long, 25 to 50 mm thick. The rows of tubercles are in rows of 11-20, each ending in a dark, 1.5 to 3 mm long spine (Tränkle and Hübner (1992). The plant often grows out of cracks between rocks. Photos of the plant in the wild are available on the iNaturalist.org website (iNaturalist.org 2019).
Flowers. The flowers of this species are small, deeply lobed and appear on the upper parts of the stems at the end of long pedicels (pedicellate). The insides of the lobes are covered with fine papillae that result in a velvety appearance. The flowers may be in shades of red, maroon and yellow and flowers of different colors may appear on the plant at the same time.
 Hoodia pedicellata Pendand Flower and Buds |
 Hoodia pedicellata with Red Flowers |
 Hoodia pedicellata with Multicolored Flowers |
 Hoodia pedicellata with Maroon Flower Close Up |
Fruit and Seeds. As typical of the genus. The fruiting body consists of two horn-like, slender, erect follicles. On ripening the follicles split apart releasing the seeds. As they are released a tuft of filament-like pappi opens and the seeds are disbursed by air currents.
Conservation Status
CITES Listing: This and all other species of Hoodia, are listed on Appendix II of CITES. Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival (CITES 2019a). This listing includes all parts and derivatives except those bearing a label:
“Produced from Hoodia spp. material obtained through controlled harvesting and production under the terms of an agreement with the relevant CITES Management Authority of [Botswana under agreement No. BW/xxxxxx] [Namibia under agreement No. NA/xxxxxx] [South Africa under agreement No. ZA/xxxxxx].” (CITES 2019b).
Hybrids of Hoodia species with other species are subject to these requirements (Shippmann 2016). Hoodia seeds are also regulated by CITES (Harcum 2019), contrary to the information posted on the FWS website (USFWS 2019).
IUCN Listing: No assessments of the conservation status of Hoodia pedicellata were found on International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threated Species (IUCN 2019).
U.S. Endangered Species Act Listing Status: This taxon not listed (FWS 2018).
Uses
No records of specific uses of this plant were found.
Cultivation
Some plants of this species have been grown for use as ornamentals but no plantings for production of a crop have been reported.
Propagation Methods
This is one of the most difficult species of Hoodia to grow. Refer to the reference by Tränkle and Hübner (1992) for detailed instructions.
Improved Cultivars
We have not developed improved cultivars of this species.
Pests and Diseases
Refer to the sections of this website on diseases and pests of Hoodia species (currently under development).
This species is extremely susceptible to soft rot diseases in cultivation. One grower in Germany has attempted to maintain this plant by grafting it on other more resistant plants. We obtained the grafted specimen shown below. It survived somewhat longer than rooted specimens but was also lost to soft rot.
 Hoodia pedicellata Graft on Quaqua mammillaris |
 Hoodia pedicellata Graft on Quaqua mammillaris Close Up |
Invasiveness Potential
There are no references indicating that this species is invasive:
Global Invasive Species Database. This species was not found on the database (ISSG 2019).
Hawai‘i-Pacific Weed Risk Assessment (HPWRA). No assessment of this species was found on the HWPRA database (HWPRA 2019a). With its extreme suseptability to bacterial soft rot in moist conditions this species would probably not survive in the Hawaiian environment and presents very low risk.
Plants and Seeds for Sale
Improved Cultivars
No hybrids or improved cultivars of this species have been developed.
Availability and Ordering Information
Hoodia pedicellata is rare in collections. No plants, cuttings or seeds of this species are available.
References
Bruyns PV. 2006a. Chapter 4. Hoodia. In: Stapeliads of Southern Africa and Madagascar, Vol. I Hatfield, South Africa: Umdaus Press., 92-129.
CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). 2019a. Appendices I, II, and III valid from 4 October 2017. https://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php [accessed 28 October 2019].
CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). 2019b. Appendices I, II, and III valid from 4 October 2017. Annotation #9. https://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php [accessed 28 October 2019].
FWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). 2019. Endangered Species Home. Search Endangered Species Database. https://www.fws.gov/endangered/ [accessed 27 October 2019].
GISD.(Global Invasive Species Database) 2018. http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/search.php [accessed ## Month 2018].
Hawaii-Pacific Weed Risk Assessment (HPWRA). #### Year Accessed. Genus species. https://sites.google.com/site/weedriskassessment/home [accessed 29 October 2019].
Harcum H. 2019. E-mail communication, July 3, 2019 from Heather Harcum, Permits Biologist, International Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Falls Church, Virginia.
HPWRA (Hawaii-Pacific Weed Risk Assessment). 2019. Hawai‘i Pacific Weed Risk Assessment Site. https://sites.google.com/site/weedriskassessment/home [accessed 29 October 2019].
iNaturalist.org 2019. Photos of Hoodia pedicellata. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/587550-Hoodia-pedicellata/browse_photos [Accessed November 22, 2019].
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). 2019. Version 2019-2. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. http://www.iucnredlist.org/search [accessed 27 October 2019].
ISSG (Invasive Species Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission) 2019. Global Invasive Species Database. http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/ [accessed 25 October 2019].
Kew (Kew Royal Botanic Gardens). 2019j. Planta of the World Online. Hoodia pedicellata (Schinz) Plowes. http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:964736-1 [Accessed 17 November 2019].
Schippmann U. 2016. Plant Annotations in the CITES Appendices – Implementation Manual – Version 1.0. Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN) Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Konstantinstrasse 110, 53179 Bonn, Germany. https://cites.org/sites/default/files/ndf_material/Schippmann_Manual_of_Annotations_V1_2016.pdf [accessed 21 July 2019].
Tränkle U, Hübner F. (1992). Hoodia pedicellata (Schinz) Plowes. Asklepios No. 56: 9. 1992. Cited in Asclepidarium. http://www.asclepidarium.de/English/artikel/Hoodia%20pedicellata_e.htm[Accessed 22 November 2019].
Page last updated January 30, 2022.