Thonningia sanguinea — a medium houseplant
SPECIMEN · FROM THE LIBRARY
Thonningia sanguinea

Thonningia Sanguinea

Updated · 18 observations
ON THIS PLANT

Thonningia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Balanophoraceae containing the single species Thonningia sanguinea. It is distributed throughout much of southern and western Africa, particularly the tropical regions. Common names for the plant include ground pineapple. A familiar plant to humans, it has an extremely long list of common names in many African languages. Many names are inspired by the resemblance of the plant's inflorescence to a pineapple or palm tree. Some of the names can be translated as pineapple of the bush (from Anyi), duiker's kolanut (from Igala), and crown of the ground (from Yoruba).

CHARACTERISTICS

Botanical profile.

Genus
Thonningia
Family
Balanophoraceae
PLATES
Thonningia sanguinea leaf
PLATE 01 · leaf
Thonningia sanguinea leaf
PLATE 02 · leaf
Thonningia sanguinea flower
PLATE 03 · flower