This is the story of one  of the smallest succulent cutting I ever dealt with: possibly 2 cm (less of one inch) in actual length - regrettably no pictures were taken at that time. Anyway, I decided to try the following:

• Found a ridicolously small plastic pot,
• Used the best soil mixture I was able to "imagine",
• Choose a place with much light (but NO direct sunlight) to host it: my veranda, that proved to be a perfect greenhouse …
• Sparingly watered it (using waste water from the tanks, which is rich in nitrites, nitrates and other elements said to promote plant growth).

Then I left the "small thing" in peace, and after a loooooooong time … about two years later (perhaps even more) you can see the results, displayed in a large (former Bonsai) pot:

And here comes a closer detail of the – first ever – flower this plant rewarded me with:

This is what happened in my pot sp far; but what is this after all? This is an one million dollars question to speak franky. I made some investigations and the results were:

• Stapelia sp.: it’s a large genus of the asclepiads family originating from Africa. Their stems are spineless and succulent, while their flowers (quite common with asclepiads) smell really bad. Flowers are shaped as large stars, in some case exceeding 20 cm (8 inches) in diameter with colours ranging from red to brown, often marbled probably trying to cheat (pollinating) flies attracted by smell and/or colours.

Or, else

• Orbea sp. is a genus (counting about 20 species) closely related to stapeliaceae found in eastern/southern Africa. They show large brown flowers with a carrion smell again used to attract flies that are their main pollinators. These flowers blossom at the end of the summer.

Regrettably, I can't go into any further details. However, the fact that my flower (rather small and NOT badly smelling) blossomed at the end of August / beginning of September makes me think that the second option (Orbea sp.) may be the correct one. Hints are warmly welcomed!

I will list a short excerpt on the cultivating needs for both species:

• Frost Tolerance: lower temp limit about 10° C, avoid frost at any cost
• Sun Exposure: partial sun / shaded light
• Origin: South Africa (many places), Namibia, Zambia
• Growth Habits: stem succulent
• Watering Needs: key point is a well drained soil
• Propagation: seeds, cuttings in spring or summer

• Heat Tolerance: good resistance, but try to avoid direct sun.
• Sun Exposure: light shade to full sun
• Origin: South Africa
• Growth Habits: soft stemmed succulent, each stem can reach over 12 inches (30 cm)
• Watering Needs: water sparingly, well-drained soil.
• Propagation: cuttings

In my personal experience their need for temperatures over 10° C classifies both species (Stapelia and Orbea) as "demanding plants" although I wouldn't say that they are very difficult to keep in general. This temperature limitation is definitely a problem during the Italian winter (especially in central and northern Italy) while too much sun found in other places may also become a problem.

Further information is available at Desert Tropicals where, by the way,  an excellent CD-Rom on cacti and succulents: Cactus and Succulents Encyclopedia is available