The Hydnora africana is a plant that grows in southern Africa and has been known to the Zulu people of SA for thousands of years. They have used the fruit and seeds for both food and medicine. This is an unusual fruit in that it is not actually a fruit, but rather a growth on the underside of the Hydnora africana flower. The fruit or growth, resembling a football, can grow to about 15 centimetres in diameter.
![Flower of Hydnora (Hydnora africana) a rare plant parasitic on species of the genus Euphorbia. Cornellskop, Richtersveld, South Africa Stock Photo - Alamy](/images/FlowerofHydnora-Hydnoraafricana-arareplantparasiticonspeciesofthegenusEuphorbia-Cornellskop_Richtersveld_SouthAfricaStockPhoto-Alamy.jpg)
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![Hydnora africana (Hydnoraceae) image 52045 at PhytoImages.siu.edu - Plants, Natural world, Alien](/images/Hydnoraafricana-Hydnoraceae-image52045atPhytoImages-siu-edu-Plants_Naturalworld_Alien.jpg)
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![Pin en Hydnora](/images/PinenHydnora.jpg)
![Current summary of ethnobotanical uses, chemistry, pharmacology, and distribution of Hydnora species - Samachar Central](/images/Currentsummaryofethnobotanicaluses_chemistry_pharmacology_anddistributionofHydnoraspecies-SamacharCentral.jpg)
Hydnora africana is a parasitic plant that grows on the roots of the Marula tree in Southern Africa. It’s an incredibly rare and endangered plant that’s only found in a few isolated regions of South Africa. The plant produces one of the most disgusting fruits known to man, the Marula — a fruit so revolting that it’s been banned from sale in several countries for this very reason.