Hoodia flava Seeds - Indigenous Medicinal Succulent South African Stapeliad

Hoodia flava Seeds

 South African Indigenous Succulent

Hoodia is a genus of 13 species in the flowering plant family Apocynaceae. They are stem succulents, described as cactiform because of their remarkable similarity to the unrelated cactus family. They can reach up to 1m high and have large flowers, often with tan colour and strong smell. They fall in the group of succulents, collectively known as Stapeliads. Many Hoodia species are protected plants, typical of the Namib Desert, ranging from Central Namibia to southern Angola, especially in plains and rocky areas. Common names include "Bushman's Hat" and "Queen of the Namib". Several species are grown as garden plants, and one species, Hoodia gordonii, is being used as an appetite suppressant. They grow well in pots and rockeries. The unusual flowers are flat and saucer-like in shape and red, purple to brown or mottled dark yellow in colour. Flowers form prolifically near the stem tips in summer. The short stems are many angled with white spikes appearing at short intervals on each angle. Stems are single or branch forming, they occur in variable shades of green. Medicinally it is widely used traditionally by the San people of southern Africa as an appetite suppressant, thirst quencher and as a cure for severe abdominal cramps, hemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes. Hoodia flava commonly known as Ghaap or Yellow-flowered Ghaap is a South African indigenous succulent that is found in the Cape Province in the Karoo region from Prince Albert northwards to Kenhardt. It can also be found growing in Namibia’s Koran Mountains and the eastern and southern flanks of the Great Karas Mountains. Plants usually grow inside bushes, on gentle gravelly slopes or summits of hills. Hoodia flava is leafless and branchless forming a compact succulent spiny shrublet with many cylindrical stems all arising from the base. Yellow flowers appear in winter on the youngest parts of the plants near the top. This species is distinguished from the other Hoodia species by its small yellow flowers and its unique distribution.