The Stapelia gigantea bud in picture has a pale, pinkish purple colour with scattered darker blotches concentrated in its upper parts. Some dark, vertical, vein lines are positioned on the lobes surfaces.

The angled brownish ridges where the corolla lobes touch show where these lobes will separate when the flower opens. Lobe attenuation is reflected in the exaggerated elongation of the bud tip. The bud shape is described by White and Sloane (1937) as pentagonally ovoid.