My guess would be Stapelia gigantea and it looks like a beauty !
Congrats !
Jay

Stapelia gigantea.

Christopher

Jay and Christopher are like, so right.

Exactly, what else could it be, right? We look forward to more pix when it opens, Biker, congratulations to be.

Well, the drama continues.... and the flies know what is about to happen!!!!!

Howard

Here, another beauty...and so many more flowers to follow!
How large is the pot - that flower is nearly same size ?

Keep the show on please. Rina

I should have say looks longer than the pot is accross, I guess it will be much bigger (than pot) when fully opened ?
Rina

i knew it was from the stapelia family as i had one that looked like that a few years ago and when it bloomed,the flower was 13" across.Looks like yours will be the same.
Kathi

The flower is just over 6" long and the pot is 4".

Hi...and what does it smell like????
I have heard they smell very rotten....
someone said she had to put it outside when it bloomed..
yours looks great, its so big, I can't wait to see the flower all the way open... I have never seen one, thanks for posting.....linda

Definitely keep the show going! That is going to be amazing when it finally pops...

How tough is the care for one of those in Z6? Where does it spend the offseason?

T

Linda, even though it hasn't opened completely, the flies are loving the putrid smell of rotting meat! You definitely DO NOT want this inside your home or greenhouse!!!!

Tom, this one is very easy and so far has required no special care. In fact I probably water it too much and here it is! From early May to mid September most of my C&S summer on the driveway where I get the most sun. They all winter in my small hobby greenhouse.

Excellent, Howard!

The Octopus has opened!!!!! I had to knock off the fly eggs before taking these pictures this morning.

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Very happy indeed.

WOW..........is that cool looking and big...
it may have taken its time but it is worth the wait...
this might be a dumb question but I was wondering why the yucky smell, its a very cool looking flower ???????
thanks for sharing...linda

Linda, in nature flowers have to have a mechanism for reproduction. Some are fortunate enough to be self pollinating and don't require any assistance. Others like this flower need help and flies and other insects that lay eggs in carrion. In doing so, they inadvertently pick up pollen and take it to another smelly flower, thus pollinating it. Why evolution has chosen this plant to smell awful and use flies while others are so wonderfully fragrant and attract beautiful butterflies or hymenoptera and still other flowers have evolved to require special assistance because of their "anatomy" will remain a mystery.

Hi..and thank you bikerdoc for the info..I guess I should have now that..its a wonder why some smell so great and others so nasty....
theres a voodoo plant that I guess has a very nasty smell to it too........
thanks again.....linda

Stapelia flavopurpurea is an stapelia with sweet smelling flowers, almost like honey. I have a small one that had about 3 blooms so far, and the smalled AMAZING! But the smell is very faint, so you kinda have to stick the flower up your nose...
I highly recomend this stapelia

Wowzers that is one amazing flower. Not being too familiar with Stapelias I googled Stapelia flavopurpurea it also has a pretty flower I wonder if they're available in my neck of the woods, you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be looking.

Annette

How many flowers will that one plant have this season? Such a huge flower must take a bunch of stored energy. I have a few flower buds it seems right now, they are so tiny. Hard to believe that at least one could grow into such a huge flower.

Currently there are about 4 or 5 more buds that might make it. A couple have blasted maybe because our hot August days have suddenly turned cool with night time temps in the mid 50's. Not happy about this!!!