Stapelia rufa

Stapelia rufa is a stem succulent and a carrion plant. Its stems are erect, four-angled and nearly flat between the ridges on mature stems. They are not decumbent at the base, growing from 10 cm to 22 cm in height and 1,5 cm in diameter. There are tiny leaves spaced along the stem ridges, but they drop off early. Stem colour is initially green, adding purple and grey to olive green on old ones, the stem surfaces velvety.

The species is distributed in the central part of the Western Cape, the western Karoo from Laingsburg to Prince Albert, the far south of the Northen Cape and southwards to the Little Karoo near Ladismith and further to Riversdale.

The habitat is rocky north-facing slopes under bushes. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Smith, et al, 2017; White and Sloane, 1937; iNaturalist; www.redlist.sanbi.org).