Beautiful flower but no name.

SpikeyOne · Post by **SpikeyOne** » Wed May 27, 2009 6:46 am

Hi there, this one must be common and easy to grow if it flowered for us...
Just wondering if someone could give us a name for it.

Thanks in advance

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » Wed May 27, 2009 6:54 am

ehm... it's not a cactus, I believe it's carnivorous and I kind of forgot the name, stapelia?

phil_SK · Post by **phil_SK** » Wed May 27, 2009 7:15 am

Not carnivorous, though it's flowers smell of rotting flesh and are designed to attract flies as pollinators, which is maybe what you're half-remembering. Orbea variegata, in the milkweed family rather than the cactus family.

Sahara · Post by **Sahara** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:39 am

They call it a carrion flower - it belongs to the Apocynacea family - incidentally, the same family as the desert rose (Adenium), Pachypodium and Frangipani.

phil_SK · Post by **phil_SK** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:50 am

I didn't realise that Asclepiadaceae had been relegated to the status of subfamily (as Asclepiadoideae) within the Apocynaceae. Thanks for making me double check that!

tvaughan · Post by **tvaughan** » Wed May 27, 2009 11:36 am

Don't you wish they'd stop that name changing? I'm just going to ignore that one.

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Wed May 27, 2009 3:15 pm

Agree with Phil.
Orbea (Stapelia) variegata.

fredatcafe · Post by **fredatcafe** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 5:18 pm

Hello everybody. My first posting. Subject is definitely Stapelia Variegata. I have a passion for these fascinating plants. Terrific flowers, HORRIBLE smell. I put mine out in the summer. Flowers every year. Last year, no flowers, but two seed pods from previous years flowers. Do a Google search for 'Stapelia'.

Cheers for now from a very chilly Essex.

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:59 am

it's flowers smell of rotting flesh and are designed to attract flies as pollinators, which is maybe what you're half-remembering

yes that was it! when I read that I decided to never have one in my house, for obvious reasons.

Shmuel · Post by **Shmuel** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 10:59 am

Hello Fredacat and welcome. Nice Stapelia.

Enjoy yourself here!

Shmuel

SpikeyOne · Post by **SpikeyOne** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 2:49 am

Hi there again, i was visiting my Nan yesterday and she showed me something interesting on her `dead mouse cactus`, which is what we refer to it as.
The first pic shows a flower and the other 2 are what appear to be seed pods maybe?
She`s never seen these before and we would be interested to know if they are. Thanks in advance

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 4:10 am

Hello Spikeyone, yes those are seed horns, it will start to dry up and then the tip will split and the sides will fold down to slowly expose the seed that will be carried away in the wind.

BTW, If you really want to stink up the place, be on the lookout for one of these, Stapelia gigantea.

SpikeyOne · Post by **SpikeyOne** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 5:13 am

Thanks Tony, will be looking forward to what happens next.
Love that pic btw, i`m definately going to be looking out for one of those.

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 2:14 pm

My S. gigantea is a great plant, made it through this winter unprotected, but I may have to move it. It is WAY too close to my front door when it is blooming!