Bruce and Polly then presented our program: Hoodia Hoodoo. As usual, Bruce treated us to a multimedia exhibition, including plants, books, artwork, and slides about the uses of Hoodia. We learned, among other things, that the Kalahari is not a desert, but a savannah; the Namib is a desert and that most Hoodias occur there. There is only one species of Hoodia in Botswana (H. currori). Bruce explained that Hoodia has been identified as containing a weight loss compound and that a drug company had offered to pay big bucks for Hoodia. Fortunately, the people who responded to this offer didn’t know a Hoodia from a hole in the ground and dug up a "weedy" species of naturalized Trichocereus instead! We saw lots of slide of plants from the area and also of the people who live there. It was, as usual, very interesting! Thank you, Bruce and Polly!

After the program, Rob spoke briefly about the Plants of the Month (succulent asclepiads) and we saw many outstanding specimens that club members had brought in. Then it was time for more food and the raffle, which featured many excellent plants. Many, many raffle tickets were sold (so many that I didn’t even win once!). Lots of people went home with lovely plants, including Julia who won the name tag raffle plant!