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Description
Produces large star fish-shaped deep brown-purple flowers with transverse brow to whitish corrugation. The flowers are densely covered by long purplish hairs at the centre that remember the fur of a dead animal. Family: Asclepiadaceae (Apocynaceae) (Milkweeds family) Scientific name: Stapelia grandiflora Masson Origin: Southern Africa (Northern cape, Eastern Cape and Free State) Common names: Carrion Flower, Star Fish Flower, Giant Zulu, Giant toad plant.
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Habit: Tufted creeping or procumbent cactus-like plant that trail and hang down over the pot with large and showy star-fish shaped flowers. It can form large clusters up to 50 cm in diameter (or more). Stapelia grandiflora is a very variable species with many hybrids both in the wild and in cultivation. This specie meets and intergrade with Stapelia hirsuta in the little Karoo and the two (quite similar) species can be separated by its thicker pedicel up to 4-5 mm long. | |
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Cultivation: Together with Stapelia gigantea and Orbea variegata, probably the most widely cultivated of stapeliads. It is an easy obliging blooming plant when mature, they are happy in any average succulent house. Propagation: Easiest with stem cuttings. Allow cuttings to dry a day before planting. Stems must be laid (Not buried) on gritty compost and will then root from the underside of the stems. It can also be increased from seeds sowing in spring in moist, sandy peat moss. Barely cover seeds. Seeds germinate |