A hoya relative

This is a a hoya relative also in the asclepiadaceae family called stapelia gigantea.This flower opened for me today. It's one of only about 3 stapelias that I kept when I decided to get rid of the collection last year. Stapelias for some reason seem to attract root mealies like ants to sugar so I finally gave up on them.

This one blooms the largest flower in the stapeliad family and i've had flowers up to 16" from tip to tip. I've had this plant now for several years and it blooms reliably every year for me. The only drawback to these flowers is that they require flies for pollination so I shouldn't have to tell anyone what they smell like!!!!! When grown outside they attract blowflies and it's not uncommon to find an open bloom full of live baby maggots. Sorry for that graphic description but how else can I tell you about this flower if I don't go into the specifics!!!!!

Stapelias have some of the prettiest,most unique and interesting flowers that you'll ever see on a plant but the smell leaves a lot to be desired on them!!!! Of the close to 75 varieties that I once grew,stapelia flavopurpurea was the only one that didn't stink. It had a bit of a honey scent to it.

Then again there was stapelia clavicorona with a flower the size of a U.S. quarter that could stink up an entire 12 X 20 X 30 gh with just 1 single open bloom!!!


This is stapelia gigantea

dmichael

Enjoy dmichael.

I have a few stapelia and huernia.
This is my gigantea.

And open.Huge flower.

Very cool flowers, I found a couple of stapelia while I was in Phoenix a couple weeks ago. Darn if I can find the tag on them now. I do no it is not the gigantea. But I'm thinking I need one, minus the maggots.

Not to steal your thread David, but I found a seed pod on a milkweed plant that Awanda gifted to me last year. I was surprised to see the size of the pod, considering the flowers were smaller than a dime.

Wow, your description of these is really selling me on them, especially the part about the flies and maggots. I saw one once in a greenhouse in Texas. It smelled like rotten meat. I definately don't have any of these on my "list"!

It must be the time of the year, I have several with buds about to open.

Blessings,
Awanda

I love Stapelia!!!! I have a hard time getting them to bloom though.....haven't yet discovered the secret.

WOW, dlambii! I am in awe!!!!
Ann

Those flowers are amazing, David. When I worked at a hydroponics store/grow shop some time ago, we had a Stapelia gigantea that bloomed in the grow room. I was secretly fond of encouraging people to smell it, and pointing out the maggots as they had their faces in nearest proximity.
I've grown a few stapeliads, but gave up after the mealie phenomenon hit, combined with a lot of Stapleia species general fussiness about watering. I do love them though.
I gave one plant to some friends of mine and, when it bloomed, they thought they had a dead rat in their wall. They were sniffing all the wainscotting until they realized it was actually the stapelia flower.

I recently went to a talk from a bloke who had masses of stapelias. There were several pictures of bluebottles investigating the flowers and a couple of pictures of eggs. I did wonder if the eggs actually hatched! Interesting plants... but off putting for those of us who don't like bad smells!

This is my one and only (so far) stapeliad bloom...apparently a hybrid of some kind.
Very VERY faint odor, not at all noticable unless my nose is right up against it.
I was really hoping for some stink, just for the novely, and it IS waaaay out back where my DH wouldn't notice.
Oh, well, maybe some of my others will eventually bloom and have some stink!
Sharon, waiting, not too patiently...

Here's a picture of my stapelia flowa bud that I probably won't get to see open. I'll be out of town for a week, and I'm sure it'll open before I get back:-(.

Blessings,
Awanda

What have you got that growing in Awanda?

LOL...it's in a pot with cactus mix:-). What you see is a bird's nest from earlier this year. Every year I have a family of Finches come and make a nest in that hanging wire basket, for some reason that's the only one they will use. I can still water it while they are in the nest, I'm just careful not to get water in the nest, and they don't seem to be afraid of me. I look foward to their return every year:-).

Blessings,
Awanda

LOL...that is really cool!!!

I thought you had the things growing in straw for a minute........

Ewww Mark! I just got around to reading this thread. Your statement:

{ "I was secretly fond of encouraging people to smell it, and pointing out the maggots as they had their faces in nearest proximity. " }

makes me think that you are far less CSISF, and a bit more "maggot man" (along the lines of the miniature killer). I can just imagine the dawning horror of seeing that they are so close to maggots, and a rotten flower! HA! Still, just a bit disturbing really.

S

Hahahahah, Sara. I thought the same thing ... I could just see Mark with a wicked glimmer in his eye as he got people's noses right up to a creepy-crawly. Such a naughty boy!

Can someone tell me how tolerant these plants are in the winter. I have been wanting to place the pots of Staps I have among my cactus/rock garden but was afraid the direct sun would be too much. Then my other concern was leaving them out during the winter......any suggestions?

I grow mine in the east side ,so they enjoy the morning sun.they are all planted
in pots and in the winter I place them inside a pergola that has a roof.

From my experience, direct sun is too much.