oh cool! maggots!

[coeruleo]

now how often do you get to exclaim that in your garden? this is stapelia grandiflora. technically a desert plant, but seems to grow well with my orchids (except very little watering) and apparently willing to bloom every october for me...


the little white specks are not pollen.


they are tiny blowfly maggots crawling around looking for food. their parents were attracted by the rotting meat smell and tricked into pollinating the flower, and tricked into laying their eggs. they crawl around looking for food, but none to be found.

[pavel]

Ah well, no one ever said maggots were very bright. Love the close up shots.

[panam]

What an interesting flower!

[stateless]

nice photos, always liked these plants, it's fun to watch people who have never experienced the fragrance take their first whiff.

[Susie11]

Cool!

[orchidsal]

Extraordinary plant and flower. I assume the maggots find no food and die? AL

[coeruleo]

yep, they scramble around frantically, and pollinate the flower while doing so. eventually ants carry them off.

[OrchidAddict]

The flower is absolutely fascinating to look at! I'm totally mesmerized! I'm glad my computer isn't equipped with smell-a-vision, though. I don't think I'd be able to tolerate the scent of rotting meat for very long. I get so grossed out by moldering food that I hold my breath when I load the dishwasher if there are dishes that have been sitting in there for a couple of days.

Out of curiosity, how close to you have this plant to your regular, uh, "breathing" area?

[coeruleo]

with just one flower, pretty close, but when 2 or 3 are open, just stand within 5 to 8 feet downwind. wooo! there was a cloud of flies on my balcony all weekend. fortunately it can stay outside!

[OrchidAddict]

with just one flower, pretty close, but when 2 or 3 are open, just stand within 5 to 8 feet downwind. wooo! there was a cloud of flies on my balcony all weekend. fortunately it can stay outside!

Wouldn't it be less work to just toss a rotten steak on your balcony? You'd get the same effect... Aaah, but where would be the beauty in that, right? Actually, it would be interesting to see if your plant could be crossed with the Stinking Corpse Lily... then you could get the benefits of the rotting meat smell combined with the stench of a decomposing corpse. What could be better?

Stinking Corpse Lily: (Have I mentioned it's rare and it's the largest known flower on the planet? WAAAAY impressive, and a great conversation piece...)


And hey, whenever you have stomach problems, you could just bring the plant indoors and blame the smell on it.

But seriously...that plant of yours is very, VERY cool, Coeruleo. Definitely a "plant person's plant." You get major cred for growing that, and for getting close enough to photograph the maggots without a ventilation mask. Way to go, and thanks for sharing!!!


I'm totally showing your pics to my husband...the next time he accuses me of trying to grow something crazy, I'll just show him your maggot photo and he'll realize I'm well within the range of "normal."

I'm still mesmerized by those pics...I'm going back to look at them again right now, actually....


If it blooms with more flowers at one time, please share pics! I wanna see the swarm of flies!