Species · genus Ceropegia · Apocynaceae

Zulu Giant

Stapelia gigantea N.E.Br.

Also known as: Giant Stapelia · Giant Toadflower · Giant Toadplant · Carrion Flower · Carrion Plant

Growth habit

succulent subshrub

Native range

Botswana, Eswatini, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Mozambique, Northern Provinces, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Reference · S. gigantea

Cultivars of S. gigantea

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under S. gigantea yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Stapelia gigantea is a clumping succulent subshrub from the warm, seasonally dry grasslands and savannas of southern Africa, where it stores water in its soft, four-angled stems. Give it gritty, fast-draining mix and bright light with some protection from the harshest midday sun, and water only once the soil has dried out completely — when the stems begin to look slightly thin or wrinkled. It rots quickly if left sitting wet, so err toward dryness, especially in cooler months.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 28 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

10–29 °C

Soil mix

Very gritty, sharp-draining cactus and succulent mix

Propagation

Detach and root the clustering stems

Fertilizing

Light feed once or twice in the growing season

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Huge star-shaped hairy flowers with a strong carrion odor

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Zulu Giant yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.