Hoodia gordonii synonymy

[theobromos]

From "The Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Asclepiadaceae" (2002, Springer-Verlag) Edited by Focke Albers and Ulrich Meve. The section with Hoodia gordonii appears to carry the names B. Müller & F. Albers.

H. gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decaisne (PSRV 8:665, 1844). Type: [lecto - icono]: Masson. Stapel. Nov. t. 40, 1797. D(?): Namibia, RSA (Northern Cape); absent from winter-rainfall regions. Fig XXIII.a, XXIII.b

Homotypic synonyms;

Stapelia gordonii Masson (1797),

Gonostemon gordonii (Masson) Sweet (1826),

Monothylaceum gordonii (Masson) Don (1837),

Scytanthus gordonii (Masson) Hooker (1844).

Others considered to be included in this species;

H. albispina N.E. Brown (1909),

H. bainii Thiselton-Dyer (1878),

H. barklyi Thiselton-Dyer (1876),

H. burkei N.E. Brown (1909),

H. dinteri Schlechter ex Dinter (1922) (nom.nud.),

H. husabensis Nel (1937),

H. langii Obermeijer & Letty (1937),

H. pillansii N.E. Brown (1909),

H. rosea Obermeijer & Letty (1936),

H. whitesloaneana Dinter (1937) (nom.nud.).

Also the authors record that Hoodia juttae Dinter (Neue Pfl. Deutsch-SWA, 34, 1914) from Namibia is synonymous with Hoodia bainii var. juttae (Dinter) H. Huber (1961).

H. longispina Plowes (Brit. Cact. Succ. J. 11(2): 56-58, ills., 1993) From Namibia. Type: (Plowes 5321 [sR-GH]). "According to own observations, this taxon is only a variation with hairy flowers of the polymorphic H. gordonii."

The authors also mention that the plant was named for a Mr Hood, a succulent grower in England in the 1830s.

[Rev]

And lets not forget all the intergeneric hybridisation that can occur between Hoodia and stapelia, caralluma (spelling?), and other asclepiads

Itd be nice to get some chemotaxonomic stratification amongst all these supposed synonyms

[theobromos]

Do we know what the active in Hoodia is supposed to be?

[Torsten]

my guess is an indole alkaloid...... but yeah, I would love to know.

would the patents have this information or is it always going to be referred to as P57 or whatever the number was.

[theobromos]

If we have to guess I would go for a furopyridine alkaloid.

[Torsten]

why?