I rooted a small cutting in December 2010 - it tripled in size during the next three summer months (Southern Hemisphere) and flowered in ...Read Moreearly March 2011. It produces a spray of flowers (10 flowers in this case) that stink to high heaven, so be aware that during flowering - I would not keep this inside the house. The smell and the resulting flies would be intolerable. It has the most pungent odour of the 20 or so species of Stapeliads I keep. It is pollinated by flies of course - definitely no bees, butterflies or birds for this one! The individual flowers are large - 2 to 3 inches across and are a very dark maroon, almost charcoal black in full sunlight. This Orbea appreciates well-draining mineral rich soil with partial sunlight (morning or afternoon) in our climate which reaches 90 F daily in summer. At lower temperatures, full sunlight should be fine. The subspecies vaga occurs naturally in Botswana and Zimbabwe.
I rooted a small cutting in December 2010 - it tripled in size during the next three summer months (Southern Hemisphere) and flowered in ...Read More