Plants belonging to this genus are perennial stunted succulents reaching a height of 10-60 cm . The stems are numerous, juicy, tetrahedral, branching at the base. On the faces are large, protruding, non-splitting teeth. The color of the stems is green or gray-green, sometimes with a reddish-violet hue (it manifests itself, first of all, in excessive sunlight). Side shoots creeping. Leaves of plants of this genus are absent. Since the shape of the staples is close to some cacti , they are often mistakenly called cacti.
Flowers are single or paired, sitting on pedicels bent downward, extending from the base of young shoots. The flower size varies for different species from 5 mm to 30 cm. The corolla of the flower is wide-bell-shaped or in the shape of a five-pointed star. In the center of the corolla is a crown - a convex circle slightly above the petals, formed by the fused parts of the flower. The flowers are very aesthetic, but they emit an unpleasant putrefactive smell, reminiscent of the smell of spoiled meat, which attracts flies - the only pollinating insects found in abundance in the places where Stapelius grows.
Stapelias are common in indoor culture . They require bright lighting, but when kept on the southern windowsill in sunny summers they can get burns and need a little shading. Watering in summer is moderate, in autumn and winter after flowering it is better not to water, or to water occasionally. In winter, they are kept at a temperature of 10-14 ° C. Propagated by cuttings of shoots: after separation of the shoot from the main stem, it must be dried, then immediately planted in the soil mixture. The composition of the soil is undemanding. In general, plants are unpretentious and well suited for beginner gardeners .
The wormy Stapelia in South Africa not only smells disgusting, but in addition it attracts flies with brown wrinkled hairy petals of its flowers, very similar to the decaying skin of a dead animal. And also to top the fraud, the plant produces heat, as in the chemical process of decay. The overall result is so convincing that flies not only transfer pollen from flower to flower, but otherwise they treat it like a real carrion: they lay eggs on it.
According to the database of The Plant List , the genus includes 56 species [2] :
- Stapelia acuminata masson
- Stapelia arenosa CALückh.
- Stapelia arnotii NEBr.
- Stapelia asterias masson
- Stapelia barklyi NEBr.
- Stapelia baylisii LCLeach
- Stapelia cedrimontana frandsen
- Stapelia clavicorona Verd.
- Stapelia concinna masson
- Stapelia congestiflora delile
- Stapelia deflexa hort. ex Haw.
- Stapelia divaricata masson
- Stapelia divergens NEBr.
- Stapelia engleriana Schltr.
- Stapelia erectiflora NEBr.
- Stapelia fasciculata Thunb.
- Stapelia flavicomata Haw.
- Stapelia flavopurpurea marloth
- Stapelia gariepensis pillans
- Stapelia gettliffei Pott-Leend.
- Stapelia gigantea NEBr.
- Stapelia glabricaulis NEBr.
- Stapelia glanduliflora masson
- Stapelia grandiflora masson
- Stapelia hirsuta L.
- Stapelia immelmaniae pillans
- Stapelia incomparabilis NEBr.
- Stapelia kougabergensis LCLeach
- Stapelia kwebensis NEBr.
- Stapelia leendertziae NEBr.
- Stapelia longipedicellata LCLeach
- Stapelia maccabeana ACWhite & B. Sloane
- Stapelia miscella NEBr.
- Stapelia mutabilis Jacq.
- Stapelia nobilis NEBr. ex Hook.f.
- Stapelia obducta LCLeach
- Stapelia olivacea NEBr.
- Stapelia paniculata Willd.
- Stapelia parvula kers
- Stapelia pearsonii NEBr.
- Stapelia peglerae NEBr.
- Stapelia pillansii NEBr.
- Stapelia plantii MacKen ex NEBrown
- Stapelia reflexa Haw.
- Stapelia remota RADyer
- Stapelia rubiginosa nel
- Stapelia rufa Masson
- Stapelia schinzii Berger & Schltr.
- Stapelia scitula LCLeach
- Stapelia similis NEBr.
- Stapelia surrecta NEBr.
- Stapelia tsomoensis NEBr.
- Stapelia uncinata Jacq.
- Stapelia unicornis CALückh.
- Stapelia vetula masson
- Stapelia villetiae CALückh.