''Hydnora'' is a group of

parasitic plant A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...

s described as a genus in 1775. It is native to

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 ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, and the Arabian Peninsula.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> Hydnora pollinates through brood-site mimicry. This is a method of pollination in which the plant emits a smell that is attractive to insects, so that the plant can trap the insect and allow to take pollen so that it can pollinate other Hydnora.

Taxonomy

The following species are listed within the genus ''Hydnora'': # ''Hydnora abyssinica'' A.Br. - Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia; S + C + SE + E

from Eritrea + Sudan to Namibia + KwaZulu-Natal # ''Hydnora africana'' Thunb. - Angola, Namibia, Cape Province #''Hydnora arabica'' Bolin & Musselman - Oman & Yemen # ''Hydnora esculenta'' Jum. & H.Perrier -

# ''Hydnora sinandevu'' Beentje & Q.Luke - Kenya, Tanzania # ''Hydnora triceps'' Drège & E.Mey. - Northern Cape Province, Namibia # ''Hydnora visseri'' Bolin, E.Maass, & Musselman - Northern Cape Province, Namibia

Etymology

The genus name ''Hydnora'' derives from the ancient Greek , 'truffle', because of the somatic structure of this root parasite.

Genomics

One of the smallest plastid genomes among flowering plants has been found in the genus ''Hydnora''. As compared to the chloroplast genome of its closest photosynthetic relatives, the plastome of ''Hydnora visseri'' shows extreme reduction in both size (ca. 27 kilo base pairs) and gene content (24 genes appear to be functional).

Ethnobotany

Other ''Hydnora'' species are known to be available in Southern African herbal markets in Mozambique and South Africa. In South Africa the Imbola yesiXhosa are reported to use a thin paste of the powdered ''Hydnora'' rhizome as a treatment for acne and other skin conditions. In Uganda, the ''Hydnora'' spp. are reported to be used as food (fruits) and medicine (rhizomes) for diarrhea, hypertension, and diabetes, though these claims have not been confirmed.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1640095 Piperales genera Parasitic plants Aristolochiaceae