jakkalskos, noun

/ˈjakalsˌkɔs/
Forms:
jackals-kost, jakhal’s kosShow more Formerly also jackals-kost, jakhal’s kos, jakhals kost.
Plurals:
unchanged.
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African DutchShow more Afrikaans, earlier South African Dutch jakhals kost, jakhals jackal + kost food; see quotations 1894 and 1966.
The fleshy, offensive-smelling plant Hydnora africana, a parasite on the roots of various species of Euphorbia; kannip. Also partial translation jackal’s kost.
1795 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. II. 133This winter Alderman Berg shewed me a very curious Fungus (Hydnora)..called Jackal’s Kost (or Jackall’s food) being, on examination, found to be, with respect to the parts of fructification, the most extraordinary plant of any hitherto known.
[1856 L. Pappe in Cape of G.H. Almanac & Annual Register 343Hydnora Africana. Thbg (Cytineae). This interesting and extraordinary plant which grows parasitically on the roots of Euphorbia Tirucalli and other succulent shrubs, is..called Kannip or Kanimp by the Hottentots and Jackals-Kost by the Dutch Colonists.]
1869 J. McGibbon in R. Noble Cape & its People 259Further along the coast..is found the curious Hydnora Africana, or ‘Jackal’s Kost,’ growing parasitically on the roots of Euphorbia Caput-medusæ.
1887 S.W. Silver & Co.’s Handbk to S. Afr. 159The Jackal’s kost..are parasitical leafless, or scaly fleshy plants, with large flowers and scarcely any stems. The Jackal’s kost, called by the Hottentots Kanimp [printed Kauimp], is known to botanists as Aphyteia Hydora.
1894 R. Marloth in Trans. of S. Afr. Phil. Soc. p.lxxxivThe eatable part of Hydnora Africana, the curious parasite on the roots of Euphorbia bushes..[is] eaten by jackals or Bushmen,..in consequence of which the Colonial name of jackal’s kost has been given to the plant.
1912 E. London Dispatch 29 Mar. 8 (Pettman)Not a few solved the problem as some higher beings have done since, by making others work for them — the mistletoe and loranthus, the dodder and Jakhal’s kos (Hydnora) are examples of this class.
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 258Jakkalskos, The vernacular name used in the sense of something worthless dates back before 1800 and was first used by the Hottentots who had come to speak Dutch.
1977 Sunday Times 2 Oct. 3The flowers..were more than one could possibly have hoped for —..nemesias, jakkalskos,..moederkappies.
1990 M. Oettle in Weekend Post 19 Jan. (Leisure) 7 (caption)This weird object, Hydnora africana or jakkalskos, is the oddest of the parasitic plants featured by Transkei in its January 10 [stamp] issue.
The fleshy, offensive-smelling plant Hydnora africana, a parasite on the roots of various species of Euphorbia; kannip. Also partial translation jackal’s kost.
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Afrikaans
jakkalsbessie, nounn.Jameson, nounn.
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