Hydnora is a group of parasitic plants described as a genus in 1775.Thunberg, Carl Peter. 1775. Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Handlingar 36: 69, .Tropicos, Hydnora Thunb. It is native to Africa, Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesBeentje, H. & Luke, Q. (2002). Hydnoraceae. Flora of Tropical East Africa: 1-8.Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.: i-vi, 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria. 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 it to take pollen so that it can pollinate other Hydnora.Thorogood, C. (2018). Hydnora : The strangest plant in the world? PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET, 1(1), 5–7. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.9
Hydnora cannot photosynthesize and rely on host plants for nutrients. They are plants that are rooted underground and have the ability to damage infrastructures by bursting through pavements.
Taxonomy The following species are listed within the genus Hydnora:
Image Scientific name Distribution Hydnora abyssinica A.Br. Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia; S + C + SE + E Africa 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 Madagascar 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.List of sequenced plastomes: Flowering plants 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.
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