Family: Apocynaceae
At first glance, Hoodia looks like a cactus with its needles and succulent-like construction. A member of the Apocynaceae family, Hoodia, is closely related to Plumeria and is native to southern Africa. The San people in Africa used it, for 1,000’s of years, to quench their thirst and stave off hunger while on long treks in search of game. In Hawaiʻi, Hoodia suffers from bacterial and fungal rot, mites, and transmitted mite diseases. Because of the difficulty in cultivation, it grows best indoors.
Plant Uses:
- Container plant
- Indoor plant
- Medicinal
- Ornamental
- Specimen
Plant Dangers:
- Thorns or spines
High Risk Traits:
- Able to grow in regions with tropical climates
- Spiny
- Possibly unpalatable to animals
- Reproduces by wind-dispersed seeds
- Produces interspecific and intergeneric hybrids
- Limited ecological information may reduce accuracy of risk prediction
Low Risk Traits:
- No reports of invasiveness or naturalization, but introduction outside native range may be limited
- Valuable medicinal plant
- Susceptibility to bacterial and fungal rot, mites and mite transmitted diseases may limit ability to escape and spread in the Hawaiian Islands
- Possibly self-incompatible
- Not reported to spread vegetatively
