stapelias

Noun

stapelia (plural stapelias)

1. Any of the genus Stapelia of low-growing succulent plants, predominantly from South Africa, and often giving off an odour of rotten flesh.
   • […]the instinctive faculty[…]sometimes falls into mistake and error, as in the instance which Mr. Kirby gives of the flesh-fly mistaking the blossom of the stapelia for carrion, the hen a piece of chalk for an egg ; and he may add the instance given by Dr. Roget, of the vulture mistaking the skin...1835, The Gentleman′s Magazine, volume 159, page 234

   Synonyms:

   carrion flower