Here is some information of the plant growing and blooming in our yard . Pictures are at the bottom of the page. Click on the picture to go to the Flickr page. There are a total of ten (10) buds on the plant. Notice the size of the bloom!
The natural habitats for Stapelia species is Africa and they are sometimes named ‘The Starfish Cactus’, ‘Starfish Flower’ or ‘Carrion Plant’. They grow as soft stems that spread like clumps of grass without spines or thorns, and produce some of the most beautiful flowers of all succulents. The flowers usually have a hairy look perhaps to imitate the appearance of a small dead animal. They are known as carrion flowers because when the bloom opens it gives off a deep rotting smell imitating dead animal matter. The stapelia flowers usually attract flies as pollinators instead of nectar seeking insects like honey bees, so if you like their beautiful flowers be ready for some bad smells too. Usually the odor is only strong enough to notice if you are very close to the flower, but some species can fill a room with a death like smell. Fortunately the odors are only strong for about a day if they are going to be noticeable at all.
