Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Houseplant identification help please!

6 replies

Numerodos · 27/01/2019 11:34

I've managed to kill this lovely little plant and would love to replace it but don't know what it's called. It's like a succulent or cactus type thing but no thorns. The plant identification app on my phone isn't helping
Thanks!

Houseplant identification help please!
OP posts:
NanTheWiser · 27/01/2019 17:46

It's Orbea variegata (used to be called Stapelia variegata) sometimes called the carrion flower due to the dreadful smell of the flower. Did you flower it? They are fleshy five lobed flowers patterned in cream and brown, mimicking rotten flesh, but very attractive in spite of that. And they really stink! It's a member of the Asclepiadacea family originating from South Africa. It requires a well-drained potting mix, and as much light as you can give it (yours looked a bit etiolated - sun-starved).
Good luck with a replacement!

NanTheWiser · 27/01/2019 18:01

This is a pic of mine taken four years ago:

Houseplant identification help please!
BooseysMom · 27/01/2019 19:22

Wow! The flower is fabulous..I have never seen one.

Numerodos · 27/01/2019 21:13

Aha! Thanks so much. I had it in quite a dark room so that could be what went wrong. It never flowered... How bad is the smell?!?

OP posts:
NanTheWiser · 27/01/2019 21:31

They do smell pretty bad tbh, the Asclepiadacea family all produce flowers that resemble rotting meat to attract flies to pollinate them. (Sounds quite delightful, doesn't it!) some (the Huernias) have almost no smell, but most of the Orbeas do. They come from very arid areas, and flies are probably the predominant pollinators, so that's why they need to attract them. They have a very complicated method of pollination, but the flies seem to manage, and sometimes lay eggs in the flowers, but the larvae don't survive as there is no food for them.
I'll try to attach a few pics of Huernias if my IPad behaves...

Houseplant identification help please!
Houseplant identification help please!
Houseplant identification help please!
Aridane · 09/02/2019 23:18

Oh goodness- those flowers look positively evil / obscene

New posts on this thread. Refresh page