''Caralluma'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

s in the family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members ...

, consisting of about 120 species. In 1795

William Roxburgh William Roxburgh FRSE FRCPE FLS (3/29 June 1751 – 18 February 1815) was a Scottish surgeon and botanist who worked extensively in India, describing species and working on economic botany. He is known as the founding father of Indian botany. ...

published the name '' Stapelia adscendens'' for a plant found in India. He commented that the name for the plant in the

Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken by Telugu people predominantly living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. It is the most widely spoken ...

was ''Car-allum'' and that the succulent branches are edible raw, though bitter and salty. The name ''Caralluma'' was coined by Robert Brown for a new genus in an article published in 1811. At the time he only described one species in the genus, the plant that he renamed '' Caralluma adscendens''. In 1996 Helmut Genaust published the suggestion that it was sensible to conclude that the generic name is derived from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

phrase ''qahr al-luhum'', meaning "wound in the flesh" or "abscess," referring to the floral odour. Genaust was unaware that the genus ''Caralluma'' existed east of Palestine. He specifically ruled out its existence in India, where it was first described and named. Genaust presumed that the name would have first been applied to ''Caralluma europaea'' in North Africa. Most of the species occur in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, including several taxa valued by people for their medicinal properties.

Selected species

* '' Caralluma adscendens'' (also called ''Caralluma fimbriata'') (Roxb.) R.Br. * '' Caralluma burchardii'' N.E.Br. * '' Caralluma crenulata'' Wall. * '' Caralluma dummeri'' * '' Caralluma edulis'' (Edgew.) Benth. ex Hook.f. * '' Caralluma europaea'' (Guss.) * '' Caralluma joannis'' Maire * '' Caralluma socotrana'' * '' Caralluma somalica'' N.E.Br. * '' Caralluma speciosa'' (N.E.Br.) N.E.Br.

Formerly placed here

*''

Frerea indica ''Boucerosia frerei'' is a plant in the genus '' Boucerosia'' which contains several species many of which are native to the Indian subcontinent and one species, '' Boucerosia crenulata'', native to Myanmar. ''B. frerei'' (locally called shindel ...

'' Dalzell (as ''C. frerei'' G.D.Rowley)

References

External links

International Plant Names Index
Asclepiadoideae Apocynaceae genera Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773) {{Apocynaceae-stub