Stapelia hirsutaL.

carrion-flower

WFO wfo-0001102545 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Stapelia hirsuta, photographed by Jeremy Gilmore
fig. a Jeremy Gilmore, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-04-03 / obs. 119613612
Stapelia hirsuta, photographed by Nicola van Berkel
fig. b Nicola van Berkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 136732618
Stapelia hirsuta, photographed by Klaus Wehrlin
fig. c Klaus Wehrlin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 120511292
Stapelia hirsuta, photographed by Klaus Wehrlin
fig. d Klaus Wehrlin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 64250850
Stapelia hirsuta, photographed by Klaus Wehrlin
fig. e Klaus Wehrlin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 35560322
Stapelia hirsuta, photographed by Danie Palm
fig. f Danie Palm, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 199637533
Stapelia hirsuta, photographed by Danie Palm
fig. g Danie Palm, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 182550794
Stapelia hirsuta, photographed by Chris Vynbos
fig. h Chris Vynbos, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 13186232

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 2 botanical countries

Regions where Stapelia hirsuta is native: Cape Provinces, Namibia Cape ProvincesNamibia
Native distribution of Stapelia hirsuta, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Cape Provinces CPP AFRICA
Namibia NAM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 91 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Ceropegia pulvinata (Masson) Bruyns
  • Gonostemon asterias (Masson) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon asterias var. gibbus (N.E.Br.) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon asterias var. lucidus (DC.) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon baylisii (L.C.Leach) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon gariepensis (Pillans) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon glabricaulis (N.E.Br.) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon glabricaulis var. forcipis (E.Phillips & Letty) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon grandiflorus var. sororius (Masson) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon hirsutus (L.) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon hirsutus var. affinis (N.E.Br.) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon hirsutus var. comatus (Jacq.) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon hirsutus var. depressus (Jacq.) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon hirsutus var. gratus (N.E.Br.) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon hirsutus var. longirostris (N.E.Br.) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon hirsutus var. luteus (N.E.Br.) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon peglerae (N.E.Br.) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon praetermissus (L.C.Leach) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon praetermissus var. luteolus (L.C.Leach) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon pulvinatus (Masson) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon tsomoensis (N.E.Br.) P.V.Heath
  • Gonostemon vetulus (Masson) P.V.Heath
  • Stapelia affinis N.E.Br.
  • Stapelia asterias Masson

and 67 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.