Hoodia officinalis Seeds - Indigenous Medicinal Succulent Stapeliad - NEW

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 officinalis, previously known as Hoodia delaetiana, is a South African indigenous succulent which can be found growing naturally in Free State and Northern Cape. It has a distribution from Southern Namibia, except winter rainfall areas and deep sands of Kalahari in the east, and from Griqualand West near Douglas to Kimberley and Jacobsdal. It is a small shrub that will grow up to 40cm tall. It has an erect to sprawling habit. The flowers reach up to 2cm in diameter. The corolla is pale green outside, red-brown inside with the papillae each tipped with a bristle.