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Hoodia officinalis

Hoodia officinalis
Photo: Magnus Björlin, CC BY-SA 3.0

Hoodia officinalis is a spiny, stem-succulent subshrub from the dry deserts and shrublands of Namibia and South Africa, growing 20 to 40 cm tall. It needs full sun, very sparing water and fast-draining soil, and is best kept outdoors or in a warm, dry, sunny spot.

Family
Apocynaceae (Dogbane family)
Grows as
Succulent
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply but rarely, letting the soil dry out fully between waterings and reducing water sharply in winter.
Soil
Fast-draining sandy or gritty cactus-type mix.
Temperature
18–35 °C; protect below 5 °C
How easy
Moderate
Native range
Namibia to Free State
Climate
desert or dry shrubland

About

Hoodia officinalis is a succulent plant native to Namibia and the Cape Province of South Africa. H. officinalis has two officially recognized subspecies, H. officinalis subsp. officinalis and subsp. delaetiana, which are identified mainly by their distribution. Subsp. delaetiana grows only in the Klinghardt Mountains and are larger than subsp. officinalis.

Other Ceropegia plants

Apteranthes burchardii · Apteranthes europaea · Apteranthes tuberculata · Australluma peschii · Boucerosia frerei · Ceropegia schinziata · Brachystelma tumakurense · Caralluma adscendens · Caralluma crenulata · Apteranthes munbyana · Caudanthera edulis · Ceropegia ampliata

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Hoodia officinalis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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