Caralluma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, consisting of about 120 species.

In 1795 William Roxburgh published the name Stapelia adscendens for a plant found in India.

He commented that the name for the plant in the Telugu language was Car-allum and that the succulent branches are edible raw, though bitter and salty.

[3] In 1996 Helmut Genaust published the suggestion that it was sensible to conclude that the generic name is derived from the Arabic phrase qahr al-luhum, meaning "wound in the flesh" or "abscess," referring to the floral odour.

Most of the species occur in Africa, including several taxa valued by people for their medicinal properties.