Someone gave me a house plant several years ago and then disappeared
without IDing it. It didn't seem too remarkable until it bloomed.
The flowers are huge and closely resemble a starfish. They're kind of
dull yellow with a network of raised purple lines. But the weirdest
part is the smell! It's exactly like a carcass that's been dead four
or five days. You can smell it ten feet away.
It's a succulent which grows like a vine. A piece broke off last
spring, and I put it in the ground outside, in full sunlight. It's
thriving there and bloomed fairly fast.
My husband conjectures that it attracts flies for pollination. We
wonder if it's some kind of fly trap, but haven't seen any signs that
it's killed anything.
Does anyone know what this strange thing is?
Les

On Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:17:40 -0700, Digger
wrote:

Someone gave me a house plant several years ago and then disappeared
without IDing it. It didn't seem too remarkable until it bloomed.
The flowers are huge and closely resemble a starfish. They're kind of
dull yellow with a network of raised purple lines. But the weirdest
part is the smell! It's exactly like a carcass that's been dead four
or five days. You can smell it ten feet away.
It's a succulent which grows like a vine. A piece broke off last
spring, and I put it in the ground outside, in full sunlight. It's
thriving there and bloomed fairly fast.
My husband conjectures that it attracts flies for pollination. We
wonder if it's some kind of fly trap, but haven't seen any signs that
it's killed anything.
Does anyone know what this strange thing is?
Les


Sounds like a Stapelia, maybe gigantica.

http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plan.../Stapelia.html

Carrion plant is a good name for them. They attract flies for
pollination, but they don't trap the flies. the flies lay eggs, but
the eggs starve when they hatch.

On Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:17:40 -0700, Digger wrote:

Someone gave me a house plant several years ago and then disappeared
without IDing it. It didn't seem too remarkable until it bloomed.
The flowers are huge and closely resemble a starfish. They're kind of
dull yellow with a network of raised purple lines. But the weirdest
part is the smell! It's exactly like a carcass that's been dead four
or five days. You can smell it ten feet away.
It's a succulent which grows like a vine. A piece broke off last
spring, and I put it in the ground outside, in full sunlight. It's
thriving there and bloomed fairly fast.
My husband conjectures that it attracts flies for pollination. We
wonder if it's some kind of fly trap, but haven't seen any signs that
it's killed anything.
Does anyone know what this strange thing is?
Les

Stapelia. Search Google Images on this genus name, or use the following link:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...h+Images&gbv=2