Stapelia Schinzii

Origin and Habitat: Namibia, Botswana and southern Angola. Three varieties are recognized, the typical one only occurring in Namibia.
Altitude range: Around 800-2000 metres above sea level.
Habitat and ecology: Stapelia schinzii grows under bushes.

Description: Stapelia schinzii is known by its very handsome and highly curious star-shaped flowers with hairs along the edges of the petals. Compared to the stems, the dark red to maroon flowers are relatively large (about 10-20 cm in diameter). This is the species with the largest flowers in Namibia and is closely related to the threatened Stapelia pillansii. The plants are large and robust and forms lax clumps, that sometimes spread for up to 1 m with stems arising from a short horizontal base. Stapelia schinzii and occasional species in other genera (Orbea ciliata, and Stultitia cooperi to name only the most striking) present one of the most fascinating phenomena of plant life, they have clavate and strongly vibratile hairs which form a fringe along the edge of the corolla lobes. These hairs hardly remain still and start trembling in the slightest breeze, possibly attracting insects.
Stems: The stems are green, mostly purple-mottled and up 6-7.5 cm long, 1.5-2 cm across, with winged angles, hairless or minutely roughened at first, tubercles decurrent, with a minute tooth at the base of the ultimately marcescent tips.
Leaves; Rudimentary, about 5 mm long, ovate, long-attenuate, delicately roughened, stipular rudiments yellowish.
Flowers: Usually solitary (a second bud aborting), borne on lower half of stem. Peduncle robust, glabrous. Pedicels 5 6 cm, delicately roughened. Sepals 5 8 mm, mostly glabrous. Corolla 10-22 cm across, inside hairless, greenish or reddish-brown beneath many close, purplish delicate wrinkles. Limb shallowly concave. Lobes ovate, long acuminate, 3.75 – 8.8 cm long, often caudate, outside more or less glabrous, inside glabrous, fringed with vibratile, purple, club-shaped glandular hairs. Outer corona-lobes dark red or black, usually oblong, c. 4 mm long pointed, sometimes ovate and mucronate, diverging. Inner corona-lobes c. 8 mm high, with erect 3-angled, inner horn and erect, free outer wing as long as the apical append age broad, narrowly ovate-pointed or rectangular, obtuse, irregularly dentate, free. Pollinia brownish, 1 x 0.5 – 0.6 mm.
Fruits (follicles): Glabrous.