#stapelia

A common greenbottle fly (Lucilia sericata) inside a cultivated carrion flower (Stapelia gigantea) in Georgia, USA

Stapelia gigantea

Stapelia gigantea is not a rare plant - it is easy to grow and occurs in numerous countries in the southeastern part of Africa. However, the example seen here is extraordinary because the flower is 7-pointed instead of the usual 5-pointed ( 5-pointed is the rule in the entire Apocynaceae, or Dogbane Family, including all of the plants that were formerly in the Milkweed Family, or Asclepiadaceae). This same plant has flowered many times before, and always with 5-pointed flowers, so perhaps this anomaly will never be repeated, but at least I captured it with my camera! Stapelias (and other closely related plants) are sometimes called "carrion flowers" because they have a truly awful smell in order to lure flies that wind up pollinating them.

Did a restock at the Chocolati Greenwood storefront! Added some Stapelias, for fans of upsettingly fleshy-looking flowers! The stems feel velvety too! Very stimmy.

Stapelia gigantea is a species of flowering plant in the genus Stapelia of the family Apocynaceae. Common names include Zulu giant, carrion plant and toad plant (although the nickname "carrion plant" can also refer to Stapelia grandiflora). The plant is native to the desert regions of South Africa to Tanzania.

Growing up to 20 cm (8 in) tall, it is a clump-forming succulent with erect green stems 3 cm (1.2 in) thick. The blooms are large star-shaped five-petalled flowers up to 25 cm (9.8 in) in diameter. The flowers are red and yellow, wrinkled, with a silky texture and fringed with hairs, that can be as long as 8 mm (0.3 in). They bloom in autumn, triggered by the shorter daylight hours.

The flowers have the smell of rotting flesh, in order to attract the flies which pollinate them. [...] There have been several proposed reasons for the size of the flowers of S. gigantea. First, it is possible that they are large to attract the flies that pollinate them. The large size and color of the flowers combined with the carrion smell may cause the flies to behave as if it is a dead carcass and be more likely to visit it