starfish flower grandifloraMasson
Carrion Flower , Carrion Plant , Starfish Flower , Giant Toad Plant , Giant Zulu , Starfish Cactus
Stapelia ambigua , Stapelia flavirostris
Photo by Gabriel Borza
Family : ApocynaceaeSubfamily : AsclepiadoideaeTribe : StapeliaeGenus : Stapelia
Stapelia grandiflorais aboriginal toSouth Africa(Northern Cape , Eastern Cape , and Free State ) .
Stapelia grandiflorais a succulent plant with 4 - angled , finely hirsute , erect or decumbent stems with tubercles widely spaced along the ribs . It forms a large , compact clump as it matures . The stems are thick , fleshy , unusually grey - green , and can grow up to 12 inch ( 30 curium ) long and 1.6 inches ( 4 cm ) duncish .
Photo by Gabriel Borza
The starfish - shaped blossom usually have powerfully recurve lobes and can progress to up to 8.8 inches ( 22 cm ) in diameter . They are intermittently produced throughout the late summer and fall . The corolla has transverse violet - red ridges and yellow between them , changing to more or less uniformly purplish Red River towards the pourboire of the lobes and near margins . It is covered with diffused , mostly white tomentum , peculiarly towards the margins of the lobe . The electric glow is red to purple , becoming chicken towards the crest and base , and is raised on a stout , yellow-bellied , dumbly pentangular stipe . The fruit are typical matching semen horns and often do not appear until a twelvemonth later .
USDA hardiness zones10a to 11b : from 30 ° F ( −1.1 ° C ) to 50 ° F ( +10 ° C ) .
Several species are fairly easy to originate . Others , often those with slenderly hairy stems and the more unusual flowers , are more challenging and require measured watering ( with some fertilizer ) during the grow time of year and complete piss withdrawal during the wintertime months . A minimum winter temperature of 10 ° coulomb ( 50 ° F ) is satisfactory , providing industrial plant are kept dry . A heated growing terrace or brooder may help delicate plants to get through the colder months . However , many species live under shrubs in their home ground and favour tripping tone rather than full Lord’s Day .
Photo by Gabriel Borza
Agritty , succulent filth mixis essential , and the Great Compromiser weed are advisable for the more ticklish species . Some growers prefer mineral - only soil to minimize the chance of a fungal flack on the roots . A level of gritrock on the soil ’s surface prevent wet from accumulating around the base of stems .
KeepingStapelias and their roots free of pests such asmealybugsis the key to achiever , asfungal attackoften occur due to terms to stems by worm .
Learn more atHow to turn and Care for Stapelia .
tap a photo to see a big version .
Did you find this helpful ? deal it with other succulent lovers !
