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Orbea decaisneana is a small, spiny-ribbed succulent stapeliad from North African deserts and dry shrublands, grown by succulent enthusiasts for its unusual dark star-shaped flowers. It is easy to grow if given strong light and very sparing water, and it needs a fast-draining mix.
Orbea decaisneana is a succulent subshrub and grows primarily in the desert or dry shrubland biome. It is native to north Africa; Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, and Sudan/South Sudan.
The plants found in Morocco have been called Caralluma decaisneana subsp. hesperidum but this subspecies is not recognised by POWO. Some botanists argue that they are sufficiently different to be their own subspecies or even species - the flowers even have very different smells.
Common in cultivation by succulent enthusiasts, as it is easy to grow.
Said to be very poisonous by the Tuareg of southern Algeria. Never eaten by herbivorous animals. The name Caralluma venenosa (now lumped under Orbea decaisneana) was given by the botanist René Maire for this reason - venenosa meaning poisonous in Latin. Unlike other stapeliads that grow among spiny shrubs for protection in Morocco, this plant grows in the open, protected from overgrazing by being poisonous. In North Africa, used as a fish poison and in hunting small mammals and birds.
Apteranthes burchardii · Apteranthes europaea · Apteranthes tuberculata · Australluma peschii · Boucerosia frerei · Ceropegia schinziata · Brachystelma tumakurense · Caralluma adscendens · Caralluma crenulata · Apteranthes munbyana · Caudanthera edulis · Ceropegia ampliata
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Orbea decaisneana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
