Lindsay Bourque composed today's article.
Thank you to scott.zona@flickr for submitting today's Botany Photo of the Day (original image | Botany Photo of the Day Flickr Pool)!
This stunning flower is borne from a decumbent succulent stem; the stem is often eaten as a vegetable in Ethiopia and Somalia. Native to northeastern Africa, it is also found in very localized areas of Kenya, Tanzania and Yemen. Edithcolea grandis is the only representative of its genus. Its natural distribution is becoming more restricted and it should be considered a candidate for protection wherever it grows naturally. As Scott notes, it emits an odor that is described as "carrion" or "fetid" -- meant to mimic rotting meat in order to attract pollinating flies.
Commonly called Persian carpet flower for its colour and pattern, it is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental in desert gardens worldwide. However, it has gained a reputation as a particularly difficult plant to keep because of its very specific growing needs and will often succumb to rot before producing one of its tantalizing blooms.
The carrion smell thing makes you wonder (or at least me) if that pattern in the flower is supposed to mimic a bunch of wriggling maggots then :)
Susanne
The correct family is Asclepiadaceae
i have a whole load of seedlings of this plant in a heated propogater at the moment, fingers crossed at least one of them will survive and produce a flower as fabulous as this one
John, the Asclepiadaceae has been subsumed into the Apocynaceae, based on both morphological and DNA evidence.
See http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/apweb/
Beautiful flower! The detail is stunning.
WOW!!!
Do you happen to know who Edith Cole was ?
Miss Edith Cole (1859-1940)collected the type material for this plant in Somalia.
Beautiful, I wonder if they let visitors view it I live in South Florida and I'll be in Miami Saturday.
Do we know the purpose or function of the hairs on the other side of the petals? It looks to be a pretty fuzzy flower.
follow the link and you will find
scott zona flicker page and where
the picture was taken
the bloom is so unusal compared
to the rest of the plant
thank you
The African representatives of this family are incredible! Much different than the type genus common throughout the USA. I would like to see how the pigments in the flower react to UV light.
oh where oh where could I find this plant???????
I KNOW I have more and better photos of this somewhere. I had to put it out on my front porch - the flies loved it, but my nose didn't ;)
I hope I attched a url to flickr photos here...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18825879@N00/sets/72157622545862814/
Edith (who LOVES the name of today's plant!!)
If you want to find out more about Asclepiads in general go to the web site of the International Asclepiad Society www.asclepiad-international.org
We produce a full colour journal three times a year.
The hairs by the way are supposed to attract flies as many move in the breeze.
"the stem is often eaten as a vegetable in Ethiopia and Somalia"
An edible species in the Apocynaceae??? First one I've heard of. Is it the only one? They are usually poisonous, often dangerously so.
Another fabulous example of amazing photography and the infinite variety of nature. Thanks to BPotD for keeping them coming. I love Asclepias but this plant makes me want to learn more about its "cousins".
While working at the Durfee Conservatory at the University of Massachusette. We would had it in bloom and it seemed everyone who saw it would want to smell it. Then we were ask why did you let us smell it what a bad smell. Many laughs were ours as new students would learn about this interesting plant.
Thank you,
Margaret-Rae
Amazing capture of a beauty.