Hoodia officinalis (N.E.Br.) Plowes

Shrub with 3-many stems, up to 0.3-0.4 m tall and 0.5(-1.0) m broad but mostly much smaller. Stems 0.1-0.4 m tall, 35-70 mm thick, erect to sprawling; tubercles joined in lower half into (14-)17-23 obtuse angles, each tipped with sharp brown spine 4-12 mm long. Inflorescences each with 1-3 flowers; pedicel 0.5-2.0 mm long, 0.5-1.0 mm thick; sepals (1.0-)2.0-3.5 mm long, 1.0-1.5 mm broad at base, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate. Corolla 10-20 mm diam., rotate to broadly campanulate; outside pale green with brownish veins to reddish brown; inside red-brown to yellow-brown often with tube much paler yellow, with dense to scattered covering of small conical obtuse papillae (rarely entirely smooth) each tipped with a fine bristle; tube 2-3 mm deep, broadly saucer-shaped, slightly thickened towards base; lobes 3-6 mm long, 3.5-7.0 mm broad at base, ascending with recurved tips, ovate-deltate, acuminate. Corona 1.5-2.0 mm tall, 3-4 mm broad, yellow to dark red-brown, finely pubescent on outside to glabrous, raised on very short stipe; outer lobes ±1 mm long, erect, bifid down middle nearly to base into obtuse erect teeth, laterally fused to bases of inner lobes for most of length to form pouch; inner lobes <0.5 mm long and ± half as long as anthers, deltoid, obtuse, with broad obtuse dorsal projection near base joined laterally to outer lobes.

It is a subtropical plant. It suits hot arid places. It grows in areas with a marked dry season. The dry season can be 6-11 months. It is often on limestone rocky soils. In southern Africa it grows between 300-1,600 m above sea level. It grows in the Kalahari. It can grow in arid places.

The thorns are removed and the stem eaten for their moisture.

Plants can be grown by seed. They can also be grown by cuttings.