''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 Parasite, parasitic plants develop a specialized organ ...

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

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Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, and the

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.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 it to take

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

so that it can pollinate other Hydnora. 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'':

Etymology

The genus name ''Hydnora'' derives from the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

, '

truffle A truffle is the Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus ''Tuber (fungus), Tuber''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''P ...

', because of the somatic structure of this root parasite.

Genomics

One of the smallest plastid genomes among

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s has been found in the genus ''Hydnora''. As compared to the

chloroplast genome Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), also known as plastid DNA (ptDNA) is the DNA located in chloroplasts, which are photosynthetic organelles located within the cells of some eukaryotic organisms. Chloroplasts, like other types of plastid, contain a genome s ...

of its closest photosynthetic relatives, the

plastome Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), also known as plastid DNA (ptDNA) is the DNA located in chloroplasts, which are photosynthetic organelles located within the cells of some eukaryotic organisms. Chloroplasts, like other types of plastid, contain a genom ...

of ''Hydnora visseri'' shows extreme reduction in both size (ca. 27 kilo

base pairs A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleobases bound to each other by hydrogen bonds. They form the building blocks of the DNA double helix and contribute to the folded structure of both DNA ...

) 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 Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, 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