A Rare & Remote Beauty – With a Twist!

Among the many incredible plants you may discover when visiting Sarara is the striking Desmidorchis acutangula – and it’s impossible to miss the purple-black flowers of this cactus-like succulent! Their striking colour is the first clue that there’s more to this plant than meets the eye.

Typically reaching heights between 40 and 100 cm, the plant can support a stunning display of up to 100 flowers simultaneously. These velvety, star-shaped flowers crown the plant’s stems in globular clusters, and appear after the summer rains. Found everywhere from Mali to Yemen and Saudi Arabia, this hardy plant flourishes in lowlands, rocky hills, and deciduous bushland. It loves hot weather and sun – no wonder it’s thriving in Kenya’s northern frontier!

While they’re a feast for the eyes, they are best appreciated from a distance due to their rather potent scent, reminiscent of decaying food.

What makes Desmidorchis acutangula even more peculiar is its choice of pollinators: it relies on the much-maligned flies. While flies might not be our favourite insects, their role in pollination is crucial. As some of nature’s unsung heroes, flies are the most important pollinators after bees – with vast armies of other pollinators like wasps, butterflies, moths, and beetles (literally) waiting in the wings too!