While the flies and beetles suck nectar or feed on the pollen, the bees will suck nectar or collect pollen. The flowers of carrion-flower are primarily pollinated by a variety of small bees, flies, and beetles.

These habitats include: savannas, woodland openings and woodland boarders. The carrion-flower can be few and far-between in Wisconsin, but if you look for this plant, you are likely to find it in full sun or partial shade habitats with moist soil. This sometimes not-so-pleasant scent attracts various types of flies, bees and other insects to pollinate the flowers. The common name 'carrion' comes from the scent of the flowers, which smell like decaying flesh. carrion-flower is dioecious, meaning each vine is either male or female so for the carrion-flower to produce seed, a male and female plant needs to be near one another. You can find carrion-flower blooming May to June with small (1/4' across) greenish-white flowers. At the base of each leaf petiole, there is usually a pair of tendrils that help the vine cling to plants or other objects for support. They can either be ovate-oval to broadly ovate-lanceolate in shape. The leaves are alternate and typically 3.5' long and 2.5' wide. The carrion-flower is a non-woody climbing vine that can grow up to eight feet long.

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