| Noun | 1. | genus Stapelia - genus of foul-smelling plants resembling cacti; found from Africa to East India dicot genus, magnoliopsid genus - genus of flowering plants having two cotyledons (embryonic leaves) in the seed which usually appear at germination Asclepiadaceae, family Asclepiadaceae, milkweed family - widely distributed family of herbs and shrubs of the order Gentianales; most with milky juice carrion flower, stapelia, starfish flower - any of various plants of the genus Stapelia having succulent leafless toothed stems resembling cacti and large foul-smelling (often star-shaped) flowers Stapelias asterias - stapelia of Cape Province having mostly dark red-brown flowers with flat starlike corollas |