{{Short description|Genus of plants}} {{About|the plant genus|the indigenous South American language|Piaroa language}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Quaqua mammillaris - Prince Albert.jpg | image_caption = ''Quaqua mammillaris'' (the "aroena"), a widespread and common species from the south-western Cape. | taxon = Quaqua | authority = N.E.Br. | display_parents = 2 | synonyms = * ''Sarcophagophilus'' {{small|Dinter}} | synonyms_ref = <ref name=WFO>{{Cite WFO|genus=Quaqua |authority=N.E.Br. |id=4000034063 |access-date=24 February 2026 }}</ref> }}

'''''Quaqua''''' is a genus of stem succulents within the tribe of plants known collectively as '''stapeliads'''. All stapeliads, including ''Quaqua'', are Old World plants.<ref name=pvb>{{cite journal |url=http://www.ig-ascleps.org/The%20Southern%20African%20genera%20of%20the%20stapeliads.pdf |access-date=August 18, 2009 |author=P.V. Bruyns |journal=Aloe |volume=39 |year=2002 |title=The South African genera of the stapeliads |archive-date=October 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021151356/http://www.ig-ascleps.org/The%20Southern%20African%20genera%20of%20the%20stapeliads.pdf}}</ref>

Species of the genus ''Quaqua'' are exceptionally varied and endemic to southwestern Africa, and locally very common in Namaqualand.

The name of the genus was taken from the Khoisan name 'Qua-qua' for the first plant described in the genus by N. E. Brown in 1879.<ref name="Gardeners">{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=N. E. |title=Quaqua hottentotorum |journal=The Gardeners' Chronicle |date=July 5, 1879 |volume=XII |issue=288 |pages=8–9 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26046181#page/22/mode/1up |access-date=10 March 2026}}</ref> That plant is now regarded as a subspecies of ''Quaqua incarnata''.<ref name="POWO"/>

==Description== Species of ''Quaqua'' are usually characterised by having stout, firm, 4 or 5-sided stems bearing conical tubercles which often have a tough, tapering spike at their ends. A few species lack the spikes or have smoothly rounded tubercles.<ref name=pvb/>

''Quaqua'' flowers are distinctive from those of other southern African stapeliads for their numerous inflorescences emerging from each stem, especially closer to the ends. There are often ten along each stem, vertically arranged in distichous series. The flowers of some species are sweet smelling (faintly of honey or lemon), attractive and rather small (between 7 and 15&nbsp;mm in diameter). The flowers of other species however, are larger, reaching a maximum diameter of 27&nbsp;mm and are dark, papillate, and usually have a repulsive odor of urine or excrement. These species are pollinated by flies.<ref name=pvb/> <gallery> File:Quaqua pillansii - rooinek western cape.jpg|''Quaqua pillansii'', from the Little Karoo, has smooth, erect grey stems File:Quaqua ramosa - E Barrydale.jpg|''Quaqua ramosa'', from the western Karoo, locally called "Ou Ram" ("old ram"), is unusual in having rounded tubercles instead of the typical quaqua spikes </gallery>

==Distribution== In distribution, the genus ''Quaqua'' is restricted to the western (winter-rainfall) region of South Africa & Namibia. Its distribution closely mirrors that of related genus ''Tromotriche''.

==Species== {{as of|2026|February}}, the following 20 species are accepted according to Plants of the World Online:<ref name="POWO">{{cite POWO |id= 3641-1 |title=''Quaqua'' |access-date=24 February 2026}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Distribution |- | || ''Quaqua acutiloba'' <small>(N.E.Br.) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa and Namibia. |- | || ''Quaqua albersii'' <small>Plowes</small> ||South Africa (Vredendal) |- | || ''Quaqua arenicola'' <small>(N.E.Br.) Plowes</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- | || ''Quaqua arida'' <small>(Masson) Plowes</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- | || ''Quaqua armata'' <small>(N.E.Br.) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- | ||''Quaqua aurea'' <small>(C.A.Lückh.) Plowes</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- | || ''Quaqua bayeriana'' <small>(Bruyns) Plowes</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- | || ''Quaqua cincta'' <small>(C.A.Lückh.) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- | || ''Quaqua framesii'' <small>(Pillans) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- | || ''Quaqua incarnata'' <small>(L.f.) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa and Namibia. |- | || ''Quaqua inversa'' <small>(N.E.Br.) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- | || ''Quaqua linearis'' <small>(N.E.Br.) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- |120px || ''Quaqua mammillaris'' <small>(L.) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa and Namibia. |- | || ''Quaqua multiflora'' <small>(R.A.Dyer) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- | || ''Quaqua pallens'' <small>Bruyns</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- |120px|| ''Quaqua parviflora'' <small>(Masson) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- |120px || ''Quaqua pillansii'' <small>(N.E.Br.) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- |120px || ''Quaqua pruinosa'' <small>(Masson) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- | || ''Quaqua pulchra'' <small>(Bruyns) Plowes</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |- |120px || ''Quaqua ramosa'' <small>(Masson) Bruyns</small> ||South Africa (Cape Province) |-

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The species of this genus can be divided into two main groups, based on their floral structure: One group bears flowers singly or in pairs; the other bears flowers in clusters of between 4 and 20. The species of the second grouping can in turn be divided into two sections: One with purple to dark-brown flowers that are wider than 25mm (e.g. ''Quaqua mammillaris'' or ''Quaqua pillansii''); the other with yellow to cream flowers that are narrower than 25mm.<ref>P.V.Bruyns (1983). Bradleya 1:63.</ref>

== References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{Commons category inline}}

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Category:Apocynaceae genera Category:Flora of Southern Africa Category:Taxa named by N. E. Brown