Stapelia hirsuta L.

Succulent forming dense to diffuse clump 80 mm-1 m diam. Stems 50-300 mm long, 10-20 mm thick, decumbent, shortly pubescent to ± glabrous, uniformly greyish green to green, suffused or mottled with red; tubercles 2-4 mm long, widely spaced along stem and obtusely conical, joined into 4 obtuse angles (concave between them); leaf-rudiments 1-2 mm long. Inflorescence pubescent, 1 per stem near base, with 1-3 flowers opening in gradual succession on short stout peduncle (<5 mm long); pedicel 20-70(-115) mm long, 2-4 mm thick, reddish, spreading often with ascending apex to hold flower facing upwards on ground or flower facing horizontally; sepals 5-13 mm long, lanceolate, attenuate, purplish green. Corolla (28-)50-140 mm diam., rotate; outside purplish cream with 3-7 darker longitudinal veins; inside purple-red with low transverse yellow to cream rugosities fading towards margins and tips of lobes where plain purple-red, sometimes shiny purple-red to purple-black, rugosities also becoming finer towards centre where pale yellow, usually covered towards centre with fine purplish hairs and with patch of longer hairs (up to 12 mm long) each arising on a papilla along margins of lobes, interspersed with small fine hairs, otherwise glabrous; tube <5 mm deep, pentagonal, shallowly bowl-shaped, with corolla very slightly thickened around mouth; lobes 15-55 mm long, 8-35 mm broad at base, spreading to reflexed, sub-circular to ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acute. Corona 5-16 mm tall, 6-12 mm broad, raised on short obtusely pentagonal stipe 1.0-1.5 mm tall, purple-red becoming yellow towards apices of lobes, glabrous; outer lobes 4-6 mm long, ±2 mm broad at max., ascending to spreading with recurved acute to toothed apex, linear to oblong, deeply channelled down upper surface; inner lobes 2.5-12.0 mm long, incumbent on backs of anthers then connivent-erect and erect to strongly recurved, dorsiventrally flattened near base becoming laterally flattened above, with laterally flattened spreading deltoid to lanceolate dorsal wing fused to it at least in lower half.