Stapelia acuminata Masson

Small succulent forming diffuse clump 150-500 mm diam. with few relatively stout stems. Stems 50-200 mm long, 8-15 mm thick, decumbent, shortly pubescent, green suffused with purple; tubercles 3-5 mm long, widely spaced along stem and obtusely conical, usually joined into 4 obtuse angles and stems ± square in cross-section; leaf-rudiments 1.5 mm long. Inflorescences pubescent, 1-3 per stem, randomly distributed along sides of stems, each with 1-5 flowers developing in rapid succession on short stout peduncle <5 mm long; pedicels 3-6 mm long, 1.5-2.0 mm thick, purplish, spreading and holding flower facing horizontally or upwards; sepals 2.5-5.0 mm long, 2 mm broad at base, ovate, acute, purplish to green. Corolla 17-40 mm diam., rotate; outside yellow-green to purplish, usually with 1-3 prominent (not raised) longitudinal veins on each lobe; inside finely transversely rugulose, upper surface of these rugulosities yellow to white except towards tips of lobes, rest red-to dark purple-brown, glabrous to finely pubescent towards margins; tube ±1.5 mm long, 4 mm broad, pentagonal, broadly V-shaped and coming close to stipe near base only; lobes 8-12 mm long, 6-8 mm broad at base, ascending to spreading, ovate, acuminate to acute, convex above from revolute margins usually adorned with straight white cilia up to 2 mm long. Corona ±6.5 mm tall, ±8 mm broad, raised on obtusely pentagonal stipe 1-2 mm long; outer lobes 2-3 mm long, ±1.5 mm broad, spreading to ascending, oblong to ± rectangular usually narrowing slightly towards truncate-emarginate to bilobed apex, orange-brown to purplish (sometimes red-spotted on yellow), slightly channelled down middle; inner lobes 3-5 mm long, adpressed to backs of anthers then connivent-erect in column above style-apex and recurved above, dorsiventrally flattened towards base becoming terete above, with spreading laterally flattened ± deltoid dorsal wing near base, cream-to yellow-spotted and striped with brown to red towards base.