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Thonningia sanguinea is a fleshy, leafless parasitic herb that lives on the roots of other plants through a underground tuber, producing a red or pink pineapple-like flower head above ground. It is the only species in its genus, and it is grown only as a weed or wild plant rather than a garden plant.
Thonningia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Balanophoraceae containing the single species Thonningia sanguinea. It is distributed throughout much of southern and western Africa, particularly the tropical regions. Common names for the plant include ground pineapple. A familiar plant to humans, it has an extremely long list of common names in many African languages. Many names are inspired by the resemblance of the plant's inflorescence to a pineapple or palm tree. Some of the names can be translated as pineapple of the bush (from Anyi), duiker's kolanut (from Igala), and crown of the ground (from Yoruba).
This plant grows in forests and other habitat. It can often be found in plantations, where it parasitizes such crop trees as Hevea brasiliensis (rubber), Phoenix dactylifera (date), and Theobroma cacao (cocoa).
The plant is used as a traditional remedy in many African cultures. This includes in those with sexually transmitted diseases in Ghana. In those with diarrhea in the Congo. A portion of the leaves is used in those with worms. Mixed with Capsicum, it is used topically on hemorrhoids and torticollis. It is used for leprosy, skin infections and abscesses, dental caries, gingivitis, and heart disease. In Zaire, it is said to prevent incontinence and bedwetting.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Thonningia 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.
