Stapelia rufa

Stapelia rufa

Family: Asclepiadaceae

Common name: Carrion flower

It has small-sized and showy dull, dark purple, dark red or yellow star-fish shaped flowers. The flowers appear at random on the stem, but mainly at the base of the four cornered velvety branches, the peduncles are shorter than the corolla which is transversely wrinkled, with a shallow depression at the center and pointed lobes, minutely ciliate at the edge, glabrous at the base, but with pubescent tips.

Sowing instructions: Sow seed in spring in a well-drained, light, sandy soil mixed with compost and cover with a thin layer of soil. Keep the temperature at 25-35 °C, in a shaded and fairly moist position. Keep plants well ventilated and in good light to prevent damping off.

Locality: Waboomskraal. Harvest: December 2024