Lachenalia carnosa blue-purple lobe tips

These Lachenalia carnosa plants are flowering well in their Namaqualand habitat.

The flower lobe tips are bluer purple than the red to pinkish purple often seen. The lobe pointing down at the flower tip is slightly longer than the others. The whitish tube is urn- to barrel-shaped, the lobes brightly coloured but not lasting as well as the barrels of old flowers.

The cylindrical flower stem in picture seems thicker higher up than at its base, although optical illusions are not unknown in nature.

The parallel veins on the dark green leaves are visible on both surfaces, dark red on the lower one (Le Roux, et al, 2005).