Hoodia is a genus of succulent plants in the family Apocynaceae that is widely used traditionally by the San people of southern Africa as an appetite suppressant, thirst quencher and medicinally as a cure for severe abdominal cramps, haemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes.

Hoodia officinalis, previously known as Hoodia delaetiana, is a rare South African indigenous succulent which can be found growing naturally in Free State and Northern Cape. It has a distribution from Southern Namibia, except winter rainfall areas and deep sands of Kalahari in the east, and from Griqualand West near Douglas to Kimberley and Jacobsdal. It is a small shrub that will grow up to 40cm tall. It has an erect to sprawling habit. The flowers reach up to 2cm in diameter. The corolla is pale green outside, red-brown inside with the papillae each tipped with a bristle.