This page is under construction and all data is provisional.
Hoodia mossamedensis
Plant Family
Apocynacae (Formerly Asclepiadaceae), Subfamily Asclepiadoideae
Accepted Binomial Name
Hoodia mossamedensis (L.C.Leach) Plowes
Synonymous Binomial Names (Kew 2019f)
Ceropegia mossamedensis (L.C.Leach) Bruyns
Trichocaulon mossamedense L.C.Leach
Common (Vernacular) Names
None.
Subspecies
None identified.
Plant Characteristics
Endemicity. The native range is of this species is southwestern Angola. This species is most closely related to Hoodia pedicellata. The flowers of both species are at the end of long pedicles that keep the flowers from being distorted by pressures from the neighboring tubercles and spines (Bruyns 2006a).
Growth Habit. The plants consist of 1-4 green-grey stems, 30 cm tall and 4 – 5 cm in diameter (Albers and Meve 2004). The spines are usually 3–6 mm long, and stiff but much weaker and more easily broken some other Hoodia species. (Bryuns 1993). The tubercles are compressed and conical, arranged in 16-20 rows. Each tubercle 4-7 mm high tipped with brown spine up to 6 mm long (Bruyns 1993).
Flowers. The flowers are maroon to purple-brown, velvety and hang from long pedicles that hold them away from the stems. Photos of the flowers are shown on the iNaturalist website (iNaturalist.org 2019).
Fruit and Seeds. As typical of the genus. The fruiting body consists of two horn-like, slender, erect follicles. On ripening the follicles spit 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 Genus species 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 it as a crop have been reported.
Propagation Methods
Seeds. Hoodia are easily propagated from seeds.
Cuttings: Hoodia can be propagated from cuttings but we do not recommend the practice as it is much more difficult than production of true cactus (plants in the family cactaceae) from cuttings. Hoodia cuttings are highly subject to rot and we have been unable to get some species and varieties to root. Sometimes a callus forms over the cutting wound and this must be excised to allow root growth. Typically, the majority of cuttings fail to survive and root. Plants grown from cuttings have fewer roots, less vigor, and unstable form, often with few stems from the base and top heavy branching from the main stem.
Improved Cultivars
No improved cultivars of this species are known to us.
Pests and Diseases
Refer to the sections of this website on diseases and pests of Hoodia.
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).
Plants and Seeds for Sale
Plants and seeds of this species are scarce. We do not have them in our inventory and it is unlikely that they will be available soon.
References
Albers F, Meve U. 2004. Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Asclepidaceae. F Albers, U 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. 1993. A revision of Hoodia and Lavrania (Asclepiadaceae – Stapelieae). Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 115(2):145-270. Cited in Craven (2004a, 2004b, 2004c). http://www.the-eis.com/data/literature/A%20revision%20of%20Hoodia%20and%20Lavrania.pdf [Accessed 22 November 2019).
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. Hoodia mossamedensis. https://inaturalist.nz/taxa/700625-Hoodia-mossamedensis [Assessed 22 November 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].
Kew (Kew Royal Botanic Gardens). 2019f. Planta of the World Online. Hoodia mossamedensis (L.C.Leach) Plowes http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:964734-1 [Accessed 18 November 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].
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].
Page last updated ## November 2019