Dead Mouse Plant


In an effort to find something to blog about today here is a picture of my most unusual house plant.


I like having house plants here, it gives me something green to look at inside the house. However, with regards to inside plants, my thumb is not as green as I would like it to be. My husband's aunt gave me a couple of plants when I first came here; an aloe and this plant. I have, to my great joy and disbelief, managed to keep the aloe alive. It has grown quite a bit over the past 3 years since I have been here. I need to repot it but am not sure how to go about it. It has propagated quite a bit so there is a little flock of teeny aloes in the pot as well.


Husband's aunt propagates these other plants. They go by several names: Starfish plant, Starfish Cactus, Hairy Giant Starfish Flower, Carrion Flower. Also: Stapelia Noblis. I just call it the dead mouse plant. It is a succulent, not a cactus, and is pretty easy to care for, much like an aloe, though it needs much more water than an aloe plant. The starfish plant is native to South Africa and is pretty easy to grow.
It generally blooms in the fall; October or November, but this year for some reason it bloomed in August and then again in October. The flowers stink to high heaven; like a dead rodent, and last for 2-3 days. If you put the plant in the sunlight, or in a warm place the stench gets even stronger. It attracts all sorts of flying insects.
That is my blog for the day.
By the way, for some reason the comment section isn't functioning for me; it keeps kicking me out, so that is why I haven't been able to respond to all the comments. Keep them coming though.
Thanks for visiting.

Comments

moe said…
WOW.This plant is somehow fabulous and hideous at the same time. I WANT ONE (& I think I saw it someplace else recently wiping out a whole spaceship full of everybody except Sigorney Weaver, too.)I liked the stove post, too. We had a homemade woodburning stove when I was a kid. Only a few more days to go on the blog every day whatchamacallit, CK!
November 28, 2007 at 9:40 PM
Calfkeeper said…
I like woodburning stoves; they are just a lot of hard work though.
November 30, 2007 at 2:35 PM
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