Stapeliads Archives - enjoysucculents

Tridentea gemmiflora (Gortjie)

Although this species covers a wide distribution area (from the Free State and the Eastern Cape to Worcester), it is never very common. It usually occurs on sandy or loamy flats in the shade of shrubs.
The plants form clumps to over a meter in diameter, with erect, bluntly 4-angled stems 5 to 15 cm tall and 1-1.5 cm thick; the leaves are 0.5-1 cm long and short-lived.
They bloom profusely in February-May; the distinctive flowers emit a strong musky odour and are 4.5-10 cm in diameter, usually deep brown to purple-black and mottled with pale yellow (sometimes the yellow spots are so dense that the colour pattern is almost reversed); the lobes are fringed with vibratile white or purple hairs.

Quaqua (Caralluma) ramosa

Because of its unusual stems, this species is normally easy to recognise.
It occurs in the Little Karoo and the southwestern Great Karoo on lower stony slopes and hilltops, usually inside or next to other bushes.
The flowers appear normally in March-May, in small clusters near the top of the purplish to greyish green stems. They emit a strong smell of buck or sheep urine.

Quaqua (Caralluma) mammillaris

Of all species of Quaqua, this is the one with the widest distribution and also probably the best known.
The plants form vigorous clumps of up to 60 cm tall and wide.
Even when not in flower, the plants are usually easily recognised by their size and the hard, yellow-brown spines. The flowers appear in March-June and emit a very unpleasant smell.

Occurring in a great variety of habitats from southern Namibia to Rietbron in the Great Karoo and Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo.

Orbea variegata

Common names: Boekies, Bokhoring, Aasblom, Toad plant, Cape Fritillary, Carrion flower.

This was the first stapeliad to reach Europe from South Africa, which probably at least partly explains the enormous number of synonyms. It is also one of the most widely cultivated stapeliads and is found in many subtropical areas as a garden escapee.
In the wild it is widespread in the southwestern Cape, mainly along the coast from Lambert’s Bay to Humansdorp, but also in the southern Great Karoo as well as the Little Karoo. It generally occurs on stony slopes, often under shrubs.

The stems are mostly erect, to 15 x 1 cm (excluding the teeth), obtuse or conspicuously 4-angled,
green with purple-brown markings. They form clumps usually up to 20 cm across, but sometimes up to over 1 m.
The flowers appear in Dec.-Sept., usually one per stem. They smell of carrion, which attracts the flies by which they are pollinated. The corolla is 4.5-8 cm in diameter and very variable in colour: inside cream to greenish-yellow, with rather large, purple-brown dots; the annulus is usually paler yellow and more finely dotted.

Photos taken 13 March 2019 on Zolani-Bonnievale road.

Stapelia hirsuta var. hirsuta (incl. S. asterias and pulvinata)

A widespread a and very variable taxon* occurring in loamy and clayey soils and on stony slopes from the mouth of the Orange river to the southwestern Cape and the eastern end of the Little Karoo.

The plants have stems 1-2 cm thick, with or without fine hairs, and form clumps up to 25 cm in diameter and 30 cm tall.
The flowers are 5-14 cm in diameter and vary from uniform reddish-purple to striped red and yellow, with or without soft hairs in the centre and along the margins. They appear in March-October.

Also see S. hirsuta var. gariepensis.

*taxon = a taxonomic group or unit of any rank: in this case the term refers to a variety.

Huernia guttata subsp. guttata

In this subspecies the stems have 4 or 5 angles; they are 2 to 10 cm long and 1-1.5 cm thick, grey-green, sometimes with faint purple-red spots.
The striking flowers are 2-7.5 cm in diameter and appear in November-April.
Plants are found from Somerset East to near Willowmore, between Uniondale and Joubertina and also between Oudtshoorn and Calitzdorp, under bushes on stony slopes.
The pictures shown here were all taken in the latter area and represent the former subsp. calitzdorpensis (the plant in the third picture was growing next to the road, hence the specks of dust).

Hoodia pilifera subsp. pilifera (part 1 of 2)

In the wild, this taxon is rare and endangered by both habitat degradation (as a result of overgrazing) and harvesting (for medicinal purposes).
Plants are found in the Little Karoo from Montagu to near Uniondale and in the southern Great Karoo from Matjiesfontein to Gamkapoort and Klaarstroom; they usually grow inside bushes.
The plants have few to many stems (3-6 cm in diameter) and form shrubs up to 80 cm tall and 2 meter across.
Flowers mainly appear in the upper part of the stem and have a nasty smell; they are 1.6-2 cm across and pinkish brown to very dark purplish brown, with a raised annulus.

My good friend George Hattingh of Calitzdorp, with whom I have spent many wonderful hours in the field, has kindly given me permission to make use of his pictures as and when needed, for which I am very grateful.

Caralluma edithae

Usually the colour of the stems is a peculiar beige-greyish. In combination with their distinctly projecting teeth and hardened leaf-scars, this makes these plants usually immediately recognizable in the wild (Somaliland and the adjacent part of Ethiopia : the Ogaden). When the plants have had some rain or are growing in a sheltered place, the colour tends to be more greenish (see last picture).
The stems are 10-30 cm long, with as a rule 4 ribs.
The inflorescences are 5-7 cm in diameter, with 30-70 flowers, which are about 1.5 cm across and smell strongly of manure.
Most of the pictures were taken in the Medishu Valley, Somaliland, late September/early October 2015.

Caralluma edithae

Caralluma foetida

When not in flower, this species is difficult to distinguish from related species like C. retrospiciens and C. speciosa.
The stems are 2-3.5 cm thick and up to 20 cm tall, forming cushions to 1.5 m in diameter. The inflorescences are terminal heads of about 30 to 40 flowers, each about 2.5 cm in diameter.

The species occurs from Karamoja in Uganda and adjacent areas in Kenya to as far east as Archers Post.
Pictures were made near South Horr, Kenya, late September 2015.