The genus Stapelia consists of around 40 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of low growing, spineless, stem succulent plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

s, predominantly from South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. The flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s of certain species, most notably Stapelia gigantea

Stapelia gigantea

Stapelia gigantea is a flowering plant in the Stapelia genus of plants commonly referred to as the Carrion or Toad Plant . Stapelia gigantea sometimes also goes by the name of Stapelia nobilis and Stapelia marlothii....

, can reach 41 cm (16 inches) in diameter when fully open. Most Stapelia flowers are visibly hairy and generate the odour of rotten flesh, a notable exception is the sweetly scented Stapelia flavopurpurea

Stapelia flavopurpurea

Stapelia flavopurpurea is a species of plant in the Asclepiadaceae family. It is endemic to Namibia. The flowers produced by the plant are quite unusual. They range from a bright yellow to greenish color and smell of beeswax....

. Such odours serve to attract various specialist pollinators including, in the case of carrion scented blooms, blow flies

Blow-fly

Calliphoridae are insects in the Order Diptera, family Calliphoridae...

 of the diptera

Diptera

Diptera , or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. It is a large order, containing an estimated 240,000 species, although under half...

n family Calliphoridae.