Hoodia pilifera subsp. pilifera

Hoodia pilifera subsp. pilifera, one of several related plants commonly known as ghaap, a name inherited from an early indigenous population group, is a clumping stem succulent of the Little Karoo and slightly beyond.

In the photo the stems are erect or decumbent, short and thick in contrast to the small-leaved shrubs around them on the stony ground. The stem tubercles occur in vertical rows, the young ones tipped by rudimentary leaves looking more like soft spines. The brown flowers are five-pointed, folding like scraps of cloth over some tubercles (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; iSpot).