Stapeliads

The Stapeliads form part of the Apocynaceae family (Endress & Bruyns, 2000) they were formerly part of the Asclepiadaceae family. There are about 330 species distributed throughout the old world countries. Most Stapeliads are easy to grow and make good collectors items. They are often called the “orchids of the succulent world”, there is an immense diversity in flowers, colour, size and shape. The flowers are usually accompanied by a foetid or evil smell (hence the common name “Carrion flowers”) although some have a sweet honey smell. There is also diversity in plant shapes and sizes. P. Bruyns (2005) did a revision on the Stapeliads of Southern Africa and Madagascar.
We are reorganising our stapeliad collection at the moment, the stapeliad section on the website will be updated March 2010