Hydnora


Hydnora is a group of parasitic plants described as a genus in 1775. It is native to Africa, Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula.

Taxonomy

The following species are listed within the genus Hydnora:
  1. Hydnora abyssinica A.Br. - Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia; S + C + SE + E Africa from Eritrea + Sudan to Namibia + KwaZulu-Natal
  2. Hydnora africana Thunb. - Angola, Namibia, Cape Province
  3. Hydnora arabica Bolin & Musselman - Oman & Yemen
  4. Hydnora esculenta Jum. & H.Perrier - Madagascar
  5. Hydnora sinandevu Beentje & Q.Luke - Kenya, Tanzania
  6. Hydnora triceps Drège & E.Mey. - Northern Cape Province, Namibia
  7. Hydnora visseri Bolin, E.Maass, & Musselman - Northern Cape Province, Namibia

    Etymology

The genus name Hydnora derives from the ancient greek ὕδνον, '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 and gene content.