the stapelia star

"The earth laughs in flowers." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

far

from

a

flowering,

fluorescent,

flourishing,

&

pleasantly

fragrant

facsimile of

flora herself,

the

stapelia star &

the

s. pulchella,

the

s. hirsute &

no

one

can

forget

the

s. variegate

(that special

phosphorescent

“beauty’)---

all have

gained

the nickname

“the rotten-

egg plant”

for a reason.

 

avec a

coriaceous

constitution,

the stapelia

spits out a rancid

stench

reminding one of

rotten & decaying

animal flesh,

or decomposing fruit

left too long in the

sun---

mephitic & aesthetically

shite

to the close observer.

 

staring at you like a

zebra starfish

out for the

kill---

professed through

a

fantastically

fetid

fart---

the stapelia

remains one of

south africa’s

sparkling

&

sensational

crosses

to

bear---

boisterously blossoming

in the autumn &

summer months---

for our

“enjoyment.”