{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{For|the plant marketed as an appetite suppressant under the name "hoodia"|Hoodia gordonii}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Hoodia gordonii P1010383.JPG |image_caption = ''Hoodia gordonii'' |display_parents = 2 |taxon = Hoodia |authority = Sweet ex Decne. | status = CITES_A2 | status_system = CITES }}
'''''Hoodia''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ʊ|d|i|ə}}; known locally as '''"ghaap"''' or '''"bobbejaanghaap"''')<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/plants/apocynaceae/hoodia.htm |title=Hoodia (Ghaap) |website=www.biodiversityexplorer.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412114203/http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/plants/apocynaceae/hoodia.htm |archive-date=2009-04-12}}</ref> is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, under the subfamily Asclepiadoideae, native to Southern Africa.<ref name="stevens">{{cite web | author=Stevens PF (2001 onwards) | url=http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/orders/gentianalesweb.htm#Apocynaceae | title=Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Gentianales | publisher=Missouri Botanical Gardens | date=2007-06-03 | version=8 | access-date=2008-03-21}}</ref>
One species of ''Hoodia'' in particular, ''Hoodia gordonii'', has achieved a degree of fame and controversy, after being investigated for use as a possible appetite suppressant.
==Description== [[File:Hoodia officinalis1MABJ.jpg|thumb|right|''Hoodia officinalis'']] [[File:(MHNT) Hoodia macrantha (2).jpg|thumb|right|''Hoodia macrantha'']] The group was first described as a genus in 1844.<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/163620#page/672/mode/1up Decaisne, Joseph. 1844 in Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de (ed), Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis 8: 664] in Latin</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40027401|title=Tropicos | Name - Hoodia Sweet ex Decne.|website=www.tropicos.org|access-date=September 24, 2019}}</ref>
Hoodia are stem succulents, described as "cactiform" because of their remarkable similarity to the unrelated cactus family. They have a branching, shrub-like form, and the largest species (''Hoodia parviflora'') can grow to the size of a tree — over {{convert|2|m|abbr=on}} in height.
The flowers are extremely variable in size — from less than 1 cm, to almost 20 cm in diameter, depending on the species. Flowers appear in large numbers, always near the tops of the stems. Those of larger-flowered species (such as ''Hoodia gordonii'') are often a papery pink-tan colour, plate-shaped, with an unpleasant smell to attract their fly pollinators. The smaller, darker flowers of some species have a far stronger and more unpleasant smell than the larger flowers.
==Distribution== The genus ''Hoodia'' is restricted to the arid regions in the western part of southern Africa, ranging from western South Africa to central Namibia and as far north as southern Angola. It is especially common in the Namib desert and in the Orange River valley. Typical habitat is rocky slopes and open stone plains. Plants usually germinate in the shelter of bushes or rocks, but survive in the open as adult plants.
;Species<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=Hoodia|title=Search results — The Plant List|website=www.theplantlist.org|access-date=September 24, 2019}}</ref> {{Columns-list|colwidth=18em| # ''Hoodia albispina'' - South Africa # ''Hoodia alstonii'' - South Africa # ''Hoodia bainii'' - South Africa # ''Hoodia barklyi'' - South Africa # ''Hoodia burkei'' - South Africa # ''Hoodia currorii'' - tropical Africa # ''Hoodia dregei'' - South Africa # ''Hoodia flava'' - South Africa # ''Hoodia gibbosa'' - Namibia # ''Hoodia gordonii'' - Namibia # ''Hoodia husabensis'' - Namibia # ''Hoodia juttae'' - Namibia # ''Hoodia langii'' - Botswana, Namibia, Cape Province # ''Hoodia lugardii'' - tropical Africa # ''Hoodia macrantha'' - Namibia # ''Hoodia montana'' - Brandberg in Namibia # ''Hoodia mossamedensis'' - Angola # ''Hoodia officinalis'' - Namibia, Cape Province # ''Hoodia parviflora'' - South Africa # ''Hoodia pedicellata'' - Namibia # ''Hoodia pilifera'' - South Africa # ''Hoodia rosea'' - Cape Province # ''Hoodia ruschii'' - Great Namaqualand in Namibia # ''Hoodia rustica'' - Cape Province # ''Hoodia triebneri'' - Namibia }}
Several of the small-flowered species of ''Hoodia'' were formerly in a separate genus, ''Trichocaulon'' ("ghaap"), but have been moved into the genus ''Hoodia'', and the two groups are now synonymous. Phylogenetic studies have shown the genus ''Hoodia'' to be monophyletic, and most closely related to the stapeliad genus ''Lavrania''. Marginally more distantly related is a sister branch of related genera including ''Larryleachia'', ''Richtersveldia'' and ''Notechidnopsis''.<ref>P. Bruyns, C. Klak, P. Hanacek: ''Evolution of the stapeliads (Apocynaceae-Asclepiadoideae) - repeated major radiation across Africa in an Old World group. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.'' 2014. v. 77, no. 1, p. 251--263. ISSN 1055-7903.</ref>
==Uses and horticulture== left|thumb|''Hoodia gordonii''
===Supplement=== ''Hoodia gordonii'' is traditionally used by the San people (Bushmen) of the Namib desert as an appetite suppressant as part of their indigenous knowledge about survival in the harsh desert conditions. In 2006, the plant became internationally known, after a marketing campaign falsely claimed that its use as a dietary supplement was an appetite suppressant for weight loss.<ref>Weight Loss Customers Are Being Hoodia-Winked, Harriet Hall, Science-Based Medicine, 11-8-2011, [https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/weight-loss-customers-are-being-hoodia-winked/]</ref> As of 2018, there is no high-quality clinical research showing that hoodia has actions as an appetite suppressant or is effective for weight loss.<ref name="drugs">{{cite web|title=Hoodia|url=https://www.drugs.com/npp/hoodia.html|publisher=Drugs.com|access-date=23 February 2018|date=2018}}</ref>
In a case of biopiracy, bioprospectors from South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) realized that the plant was marketable and patented its use as an appetite suppressant without recognizing the Sans' traditional claims to the knowledge of the plant and its uses.<ref>{{Cite conference |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10204/2539 |hdl=10204/2539 |hdl-access=free |title=Hoodia, a case study at CSIR |conference=Science real and relevant: 2nd CSIR Biennial Conference |date=November 2008 |last1=Maharaj |first1=V. J. |last2=Senabe |first2=J. V. |last3=Horak |first3=R. M.}}</ref><ref>[http://researchspace.csir.co.za/dspace/bitstream/10204/2539/1/Maharaj_2008.pdf Maharaj, VJ, Senabe, JV, and Horak, RM. 2008. Hoodia, a case study at CSIR. Science real and relevant: 2nd CSIR Biennial Conference, CSIR International Convention Centre Pretoria, 17&18 November 2008, pp 4 ]</ref> The patent was later sold to Unilever, which marketed hoodia products as diet supplements.<ref>Indigenous Peoples, Consent and Benefit Sharing: Lessons from the San-Hoodia Case (Rachel Wynberg, Doris Schroeder, Roger Chennells Springer, Dec 4, 2009</ref><ref>Saskia Vermeylen. 2007. Contextualizing 'Fair' and 'Equitable': The San's Reflections on the Hoodia Benefit-Sharing Agreement Local Environment Vol. 12, Iss. 4, </ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.grain.org/article/entries/4047-hot-air-over-hoodia|title=Hot air over Hoodia|website=www.grain.org|access-date=September 24, 2019}}</ref> In 2003, the South African San Council entered into a benefit sharing agreement with CSIR in which they would receive from 6 to 8% of the revenue from the sale of ''H. gordonii'' products, money which would be deposited in a trust for all San peoples across Southern Africa.<ref>Inventing Hoodia: Vulnerabilities and Epistemic Citizenship. 2011. CSW update APRIL {{cite web |url=http://www.csw.ucla.edu/publications/newsletters/2010-2011/article-pdfs/Apr11_Foster.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140430032944/http://www.csw.ucla.edu/publications/newsletters/2010-2011/article-pdfs/Apr11_Foster.pdf |archive-date=2014-04-30 }} </ref>
===Horticulture=== Several species are grown as garden plants, and one species, ''H. gordonii'', is being investigated for use as an appetite suppressant.<ref>{{cite web | author=Wong, Cathy | url=http://altmedicine.about.com/od/popularhealthdiets/a/hoodia1.htm | title="What You Need to Know About Hoodia Diet Pills" Website: About.com | date=2007-09-20 | access-date=2008-08-02 | archive-date=2008-09-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915191315/http://altmedicine.about.com/od/popularhealthdiets/a/hoodia1.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> However, in 2008, UK-based Unilever PLC, one of the largest packaged-food firms in the world, abandoned plans to use hoodia in a range of diet products. In a document on Unilever's website entitled "Sustainable Development 2008: An Overview", signed by Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever states: "During 2008, having invested 20 million [pounds] in R&D, Unilever abandoned plans to use the slimming extract hoodia in a range of diet products. We stopped the project because our clinical studies revealed that products using hoodia would not meet our strict standards of safety and efficacy."
Many ''Hoodia'' species are protected plants. ''Hoodia'' is currently listed in Appendix II to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which includes species not currently considered endangered but are at risk if trade is not controlled.<ref name="CITES">{{cite web|title=CITES Appendices I, II and III |url=http://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.shtml |access-date=2008-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203100154/http://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.shtml |archive-date=2007-02-03 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Commons category-inline}} *[http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?5781 Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Hoodia'']
{{Taxonbar|from=Q134234}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Hoodia Category:Apocynaceae genera Category:Flora of Southern Africa Category:Succulent plants Category:Taxa named by Joseph Decaisne