Lobostemon trichotomus floral beginnings

The cluster of stem-tip buds of Lobostemon trichotomus are obscured by their considerable hairy indumentums upon the dark, narrow sepal lobes. These hairs are long, whitish to silvery, unequal in length and thickness. Early signs of outer petal surfaces emerging through the fluff are pink-purple, much wider than the sepals.

Leaf hairiness is milder than on the calyx, different also to the hairy covering on the upper stem. Leaf curvature is diverse on the few leaves in picture, some tips just below the flowers dark in a blackish purple like the sepals. They should possibly be considered as floral bracts (Manning, 2007; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; JSTOR; http://www.worldfloraonline.org).