Blog by Michelle Schlegel
Several years ago, an unusual succulent called Stapelia grandiflora f. cristata. It is a native of South Africa that thrives well in heat and is quite drought-tolerant. It has no leaves, but instead has fleshy, four-sided stems that grow to form clumps 8-12 inches tall and up to 3 feet wide. Stapelias like well-draining, light soil, bright light to sun, but should be protected from the hot, afternoon sun. Common names for Stapelias are Starfish flower, Carrion flower, and Giant Toad plant, amongst others.
The most striking feature of these plants is their flowers. Flowers can range from 3-10 inches across. Most flowers are starfish shaped but a related plant, the Huernia zebrina resembles a lifesaver piece of candy! Stapelia flower colors, depending on the variety, can be orange, dark purple, maroon, deep red and some are even speckled. The nickname Carrion Flower comes from the fact that the flowers can smell like rotted meat. Thankfully, my Stapelia does not. I do not need to attract any more wildlife at my place! My Stapelias only bloom once a year. I wait for it as the flowers are so unusual. The flowers are a deep maroon; starfish-shaped shaped and have fine maroon hair all over. The flowers only last about 2 days, so I keep a close eye on them.
This year I was not the only one to find the flower fascinating. I have this crazy cat, Boomer, who gets into EVERYTHING, knows NO boundaries, and has NO fear. He is everywhere. One minute he is up a tree, the next he is in the barn chasing mice through the hay or standing at the edge of the pool. Boomer even removes tomatoes off the plants just to kick the tomatoes around for fun! Well, he did it. He tore off the Stapelia flower! Boomer threw it in the air a few times just to watch it fly, walked over to his food bowl, with my long-awaited flower in his cute little mouth, and dropped it! That was it! He was done playing with it! I waited a full year, and Boomer ripped it off in 30 seconds!
