Check out what I spotted among all my plants yesterday! This is Huernia x pendurata, a stapeliad-type succulent that attracts flies to pollinate its flowers instead of bees. The flower is meant to mimic a dead thing, so the flies will come lay their eggs on it and inadvertently pollinate it.
The spiky textures are surprisingly soft. I had to try smelling it, of course. It doesn’t put off a noticeable smell from a distance, but hold it under your nose, and you’ll notice.
Verdict: I see why the flies fall for this. It smells like a dead animal left in the sun. Very distinctly a “corpse in the sun” smell, which makes sense for a desert plant trying to lure desert flies. I’m not sure how much of that is chemical composition versus the plant itself being in the sun, but I thought it was an interesting detail either way.
I have about 20 other stapeliads, in varying stages of grown-from-cuttings. Apparently they’ll bloom at a much smaller size than I expected, so I’m excited to see if anything else flowers soon. I had kinda thought the pics online of a flowering cutting-sized plant must be staged, but apparently not!
Might be best not to have everything bloom at once, though. One stapeliad doesn’t smell too strongly (barring some of the larger stapelias), but a dozen? RIP me for keeping these in my bedroom.
