starfish flower

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Noun

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

carrion flower, stapelia

herb, herbaceous plant - a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests

genus Stapelia - genus of foul-smelling plants resembling cacti; found from Africa to East India

Stapelias asterias - stapelia of Cape Province having mostly dark red-brown flowers with flat starlike corollas

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Commonly called the starfish flower, the bloom is shaped like an actual starfish but is much larger, and the scent is quite attractive - if you happen to be a fly in search of some several-days-old carrion.