Lachenalia membranacea flowers

A Lachenalia membranacea flower is short and urn-shaped, growing on no stalk to speak of, merely a short, narrow part of the flower tubes back end.

The observer may experience a sensation of deafness from watching the spreading tips of the inner tepals that resemble lips opened in song, unheard in photos or from flowers by the human ear.

Small, red-purple dots are visible on the narrow, fleshy bract subtending each flower. Straight and sharp-pointed, these bracts appear useless, like relics persisting from earlier floral development stages (iNaturalist; www.pacificbulbsociety.org).