by Nicole
(SLC, UT USA)
I have a plant, I believe it is succulent, and it is going to die if I don’t get some help identifying it and what it needs. Please help! I have attached a picture of it when it blooms.
It usualy only blooms every 2 or 3 years, but it is in bad shape and I don’t want to lose it. I don’t know how long my grandmother had it before I inherited it, but I have had it for atleast 8 years or more.
Thank you,
Nikki
Drought Smart Plants reply:
Hi Nikki, what you have is a Stapelia, or carrion flower. They are unusual, in that the flowers have a distinctive smell – of rotting meat! This is to attract flies to pollinate the flower.
I don’t know what the conditions are that you’re trying to grow it in, but in its natural habitat, it comes from hot and dry conditions, so it doesn’t like trying to survive in cold, damp and dark conditions.
If you can provide extra light for it in your house with a grow light, and in the summer make sure it gets a vacation outside on a sunny patio, this will help to encourage it to bloom.
Hope this helps,
Jacki
See also the closely related Huernia.
