Stapelia gigantea (Carrion Plant)

[low_delta]

This is a cactus I have. I had a bud on the thing, once, but it didn't grow more than an inch or so before it died off. This one actually bloomed. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the bud because it was impressive too. It was a big, hollow, pointy ball. This morning before work I noticed that one side had split open, and it finished opening during the day.

I put a pencil in for scale. As you can see it's fairly big. The edges of the petals are furry. The "petals" are thick, stiff and waxy feeling. It's supposed to smell like carrion (it is pollinated by flies, rather than bees), but I don't smell anything yet. It looks a little bit like meat, with the red and white.

This is one of the few house plants I've ever had that bloomed.

EDIT: On Saturday it started stinking, so I picked the blossom and threw it out.

Comments

[heartwork.livejournal.com]

wowwwww....that is a beautiful bloom. i have just started keeping houseplants again....it's a really fun hobby.

[rivendweller.livejournal.com]

Amazing! I love things like that. Cactus plants and their flowers are very interesting, I think. Espectially those ones that bloom around Chrismas and they're nearly flourescent with bright pinks and reds.

[sunshyncat.livejournal.com]

What kind of cactus is it?

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Stapelia gigantea, or Carrion Plant. (it was in the subject line)

Here is (http://freekee.homestead.com/files/LJ/stapelia.jpg) what it looked like about three years ago. It's had some die-off, so it's looking a bit more ragged than that. I got it from my grandmother a few years back.

[sunshyncat.livejournal.com]

Whoops, I missed the subject line. *slaps forehead*

[msfledermaus.livejournal.com]

What a wonderfully disturbing plant!!! Cooooool!

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

And I didn't even have to feed it blood!

The bud was kinda cool too. It was just a big hollow, pointy ball.