Carrion Plant

Description:

Growing up to 20 cm (8 in) tall, it is a clump-forming succulent with erect green stems 3 cm (1.2 in) thick. In summer, it bears large star-shaped five-petalled flowers up to 25 cm (9.8 in) in diameter. The flowers are red and yellow, wrinkled, with a silky texture and fringed with hairs, that can be as long as 8 mm (0.3 in). The flowers of this plant bloom in the Fall season, due to the shorter daylight hours. They have the smell of rotting flesh, in order to attract the flies which pollinate them.

Habitat:

Growing in a pot plant on my patio! But they are commonly found in the drier regions of South Africa through to Tanzania.