The hummingbird lady brought me this bloom when I was manning the information booth at the Lake Chapala Society. I once knew what it was and I remember it has a sinister association, but I can’t remember what it is. It is an exotic and for some reason I associate it with a Venus flytrap..Perhaps a flower that puts out an odor that attracts flies and then devours them? This is all on the edge of my mind, and I may be totally wrong, but in any case, I think it is interesting against the blue of the counter and the blue of the wall. If you are curious about the hummingbird lady, click on her name above.
5 minutes later––Ha!! Mind like a steel trap! I was right! This flower is a STAPELIA GIGANTEA–one of a few flowers that smells like rotting meat and so attracts mainly flies. The purpose, however, is not for the flower to feed on the flies, but rather for the flies to pollinate the flowers.





