Stapelia
Carrion flowers | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Stapelia gigantea | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Gentianales |
Family: | Apocynaceae |
Subfamily: | Asclepiadoideae |
Tribe: | Ceropegieae |
Genus: | Stapelia L. |
Type species | |
Stapelia hirsuta |
Stapelia is a genus of low-growing, spineless, stem succulent plants, predominantly from South Africa with a few from other parts of Africa. Several Asian and Latin American species were formerly included but they have all now been transferred to other genera.[2][3] The flowers of certain species, most notably Stapelia gigantea, can reach 41 cm (16 inches) in diameter when fully open. Most Stapelia flowers are visibly hairy and generate the odour of rotten flesh when they bloom.
Description
The hairy, oddly textured and coloured appearance of many Stapelia flowers has been claimed to resemble that of rotting meat, and this, coupled with their odour, has earned the most commonly grown members of the genus Stapelia the common name of carrion flowers. A notable exception is the sweetly scented Stapelia flavopurpurea. Such odours serve to attract various specialist pollinators including, in the case of carrion-scented blooms, blow flies of the dipteran family Calliphoridae. They frequently lay eggs around the coronae of Stapelia flowers, convinced by the plants' deception.[4]
Cultivation
A handful of species are commonly cultivated as pot plants and are even used as rockery plants in countries where the climate permits. Stapelia are good container plants and can grow well under full sun and light to moderate watering. They should be planted in well-drained compost as the stems are prone to rotting if kept moist for long.[5]
Species
- Accepted species[6]
- Stapelia acuminata - South Africa
- Stapelia arenosa - Cape Province
- Stapelia asterias - South Africa
- Stapelia barklyi - South Africa
- Stapelia baylissii - Cape Province
- Stapelia cedrimontana - Cape Province
- Stapelia clavicorona - Transvaal
- Stapelia concinna - South Africa
- Stapelia congestiflora - Ethiopia
- Stapelia deflexa - South Africa
- Stapelia divaricata - South Africa
- Stapelia divergens - South Africa
- Stapelia engleriana - tropical Africa
- Stapelia erectiflora - South Africa
- Stapelia fasciculata - Cape Province
- Stapelia flavicomata - South Africa
- Stapelia flavopurpurea - South Africa
- Stapelia gariepensis - Cape Province
- Stapelia gettliffei - Transvaal
- Stapelia gigantea - KwaZulu-Natal
- Stapelia glabricaulis - South Africa
- Stapelia glanduliflora - South Africa
- Stapelia grandiflora - South Africa
- Stapelia hirsuta - South Africa
- Stapelia immelmaniae - Cape Province
- Stapelia incomparabilis - South Africa
- Stapelia kougabergensis - Cape Province
- Stapelia kwebensis - Botswana
- Stapelia leendertziae - South Africa
- Stapelia longipedicellata - Namibia
- Stapelia maccabeana - South Africa
- Stapelia miscella - Cape Province
- Stapelia mutabilis - South Africa
- Stapelia nobilis - South Africa
- Stapelia obducta - Cape Province
- Stapelia olivacea - South Africa
- Stapelia paniculata - South Africa
- Stapelia parvula - Angola
- Stapelia pearsonii - Great Namaqualand
- Stapelia peglerae - Cape Province
- Stapelia pillansii - South Africa
- Stapelia plantii - South Africa
- Stapelia reflexa - South Africa
- Stapelia remota - Namibia
- Stapelia rubiginosa - Little Namaqualand
- Stapelia rufa - South Africa
- Stapelia schinzii - Namibia
- Stapelia scitula - Cape Province
- Stapelia similis - Little Namaqualand
- Stapelia surrecta - Cape Province
- Stapelia tsomoensis - South Africa
- Stapelia uncinata - South Africa
- Stapelia unicornis - Swaziland
- Stapelia vetula - South Africa
- Stapelia villetiae - Cape Province
- Species formerly included[6]
now transferred to other genera (Angolluma, Brachystelma, Caralluma, Duvalia, Echidnopsis, Gonolobus, Gonostemon, Hoodia, Hoya, Huernia, Monolluma, Orbea, Orbeopsis, Pachycymbium, Piaranthus, Quaqua, Stapelianthus, Stisseria, Tromotriche, Tridentea, Triplosperma)
- S. adscendens now Caralluma adscendens
- S. affinis now Gonostemon hirsutus var. affinis
- S. albipilosa now Tridentea marientalensis subsp. albipilosa
- S. albocastanea now Orbeopsis albocastanea
- S. ambigua now Gonostemon grandiflorus var. ambiguus
- S. anemoniflora now Duvalia anemoniflora
- S. ango now Caralluma ango
- S. anguinea now Stisseria anguina
- S. aperta now Tridentea aperta
- S. arida now Quaqua arida
- S. articulata now Stisseria articulata
- S. atropurpurea now Stisseria atropurpurea
- S. atrosanguinea now Piaranthus atrosanguineus
- S. auobensis now Tridentea marientalensis
- S. ausana now Tridentea jucunda var. dinteri
- S. barbata now Huernia barbata
- S. bisulca now Stisseria bisulca
- S. bufonia now Stisseria bufonia
- S. campanulata now Huernia campanulata
- S. caudata now Stisseria caudata
- S. chinensis now Hoya carnosa
- S. choanantha now Tridentea choanantha
- S. chrysostephana now Angolluma chrysostephana
- S. ciliata now Orbea ciliata
- S. cincta now Tridentea jucunda var. cincta
- S. clavata now Trichocaulon clavatum
- S. clavigera now Huernia clavigera
- S. clypeata now Stisseria clypeata
- S. cochinchinensis now Triplosperma cochinchinensis
- S. comata now Gonostemon hirsutus var. comatus
- S. compacta now Duvalia caespitosa var. compacta
- S. concolor now Duvalia caespitosa
- S. conspurcata now Stisseria conspurcata
- S. cooperi now Orbea cooperi
- S. corderoyi now Duvalia corderoyi
- S. curtisii now Stisseria curtisii
- S. decaisneana now Pachycymbium decaisneanum
- S. decora now Stisseria decora
- S. deflexa now Gonostemon deflexus
- S. dejecta now Stisseria dejecta
- S. depressa now Gonostemon hirsutus var. depressus
- S. desmetiana now Gonostemon grandiflorus var. desmentianus
- S. dinteri now Tridentea jucunda var. dinteri
- S. dummeri now Orbea dummeri
- S. dwequensis now Tridentea dwequensis
- S. elegans now Stisseria elegans
- S. europaea now Caralluma europaea
- S. fissirostris now Gonostemon fissirostris
- S. fleckii now Gonostemon flavopurpureus var. fleckii
- S. fucosa now Orbea verrucosa var. fucosa
- S. furcata now Orbeopsis melanantha
- S. fuscata now Stisseria fuscata
- S. fuscopurpurea now Gonostemon fuscopurpureus
- S. geminata now Stisseria geminata
- S. gemmiflora now Tridentea gemmiflora
- S. gettleffii now Gonostemon gettliffei
- S. glauca now Stisseria glauca
- S. gordonii now Hoodia gordonii
- S. gussoneana now Caralluma europaea
- S. guttata now Huernia guttata
- S. hamata now Stisseria hamata
- S. herrei now Tridentea herrei
- S. hircosa now Stisseria hircosa
- S. hirtella now Duvalia caespitosa
- S. hispidula now Stisseria hispidula
- S. incarnata now Quaqua incarnata
- S. irrorata now Orbea irrorata
- S. jacquiniana now Stisseria jacquiniana
- S. jucunda now Tridentea jucunda
- S. juvencula now Stisseria juvencula
- S. knobelii now Orbeopsis knobelii
- S. kwebensis var. longipedicellata now Gonostemon longipedicellatus
- S. laevis now Stisseria laevis
- S. lanifera now Stisseria lanifera
- S. lepida now Orbea lepida
- S. longidens now Orbea longidens
- S. longii now Tridentea longii
- S. longipes now Tromotriche longipes
- S. lucida now Gonostemon asterias var. lucidus
- S. macloughlinii now Orbea macloughlinii
- S. maculosa now Stisseria maculosa
- S. mammillaris now Quaqua mammillaris
- S. margarita now Gonostemon × marginatus
- S. marginata now Stisseria marginata
- S. marientalensis now Tridentea marientalensis
- S. marmorata now Stisseria marmorata
- S. massonii now Stisseria massonii
- S. mastodes now Stisseria mastodes
- S. melanantha now Orbeopsis melanantha
- S. mixta now Stisseria mixta
- S. montagnacii now Stapelianthus montagnacii
- S. montana now Gonostemon montanus
- S. multangula now Echidnopsis multangula
- S. multiflora now Stisseria multiflora
- S. namaquensis now Orbea namaquensis
- S. neliana now Tridentea herrei
- S. noachabibensis now Stapelia similis
- S. normalis now Stisseria normalis
- S. obliqua now Stisseria obliqua
- S. ocellata now Huernia ocellata
- S. orbicularis now Stisseria orbicularis
- S. pachyrrhiza now Tridentea pachyrrhiza
- S. pallida now Stisseria pallida
- S. pancololote now Gonolobus uniflorus
- S. parviflora now Quaqua parviflora
- S. parvipuncta now Tridentea parvipuncta
- S. patula now Stisseria patula
- S. patula var. longirostris now Gonostemon hirsutus var. longirostris
- S. peculiaris now Tridentea peculiaris
- S. pedunculata now Tridentea pedunculata
- S. picta now Stisseria picta
- S. pilifera now Hoodia pilifera
- S. planiflora now Stisseria planiflora
- S. plantii Hook.f. 1890 not MacKen ex N. E. Brown 1877 now Gonostemon × plantii
- S. praetermissa now Gonostemon praetermissus
- S. prognatha now Orbea prognatha
- S. pruinosa now Quaqua pruinosa
- S. pulchella now Orbea pulchella
- S. pulchra now Stisseria pulchra
- S. pulla now Piaranthus pullus
- S. punctata now Gonolobus luteus
- S. quadrangula now Monolluma quadrangula
- S. quinquenervis now Stisseria quinquenervis
- S. radiata now Duvalia caespitosa
- S. ramosa now Quaqua ramosa
- S. reclinata now Stisseria reclinata
- S. replicata now Stisseria replicata
- S. reticulata now Huernia reticulata
- S. retusa now Stisseria retusa
- S. revoluta now Tromotriche revoluta
- S. rogersii now Angolluma rogersii
- S. roriflua now Stisseria roriflua
- S. rufescens now Stisseria rufescens
- S. rugosa now Stisseria rugosa
- S. ruschiana now Tridentea ruschiana
- S. semota now Orbea semota
- S. senilis now Gonostemon grandiflorus
- S. serrulata now Stisseria serrulata
- S. simsii now Stisseria simsii
- S. sororia now Gonostemon grandiflorus var. sororius
- S. spectabilis now Stisseria spectabilis
- S. stellaris now Stisseria stellaris
- S. stricta now Stisseria stricta
- S. stygia now Stisseria stygia
- S. subulata now Caralluma subulata
- S. surrecta var. primosii now Stapelia surrecta
- S. tapscottii now Orbea tapscottii
- S. thudichumii now Tromotriche thudichumii
- S. tubata now Huernia tubata
- S. tuberculata now Stisseria tuberculata
- S. tuberosa now Brachystelma tuberosum
- S. umbonata now Tridentea pachyrrhiza
- S. umbracula now Orbea umbracula
- S. vaga now Orbea lutea subsp. vaga
- S. variegata now Orbea variegata
- S. venusta now Huernia venusta
- S. verrucosa now Orbea verrucosa
- S. virescens now Tridentea virescens
- S. wendlandiana now Orbea wendlandiana
- S. woodii now Orbea woodii
References
- ^ lectotype designated by Jarvis, Taxon 41: 570 (1992)
- ^ Gibbs Russell, G. E., W. G. M. Welman, E. Retief, K. L. Immelman, G. Germishuizen, B. J. Pienaar, M. Van Wyk & A. Nicholas. 1987. List of species of southern African plants. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa 2(1–2): 1–152(pt. 1), 1–270(pt. 2).
- ^ Tropicos
- ^ PlantZAfrica.com, Stapelia Info
- ^ TheLovelyPlants.com, TheLovelyPlants.com
- ^ a b The Plant List, genus Stapelia
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Wikispecies-logo.svg/34px-Wikispecies-logo.svg.png)