Erepsia inclaudens

The flowers of Erepsia inclaudens are small and deep mauve, growing stalkless in small clusters. The petals are arranged in two layers. They broaden towards their tips. The central cluster of staminodes or sterile stamens covers the actual stamens, doing justice to the genus name of Erepsia as erepsis means “I hide myself” in Greek. The stamens bend down inwardly towards the ovary.

Flowering happens from mid-spring to early summer. The plant shown here was obtained from the nursery at the Harold Porter National Botanical Garden in Betty’s Bay. The densely branching habit of the spreading shrublet is starting to show (Manning, 2007; Smith, et al, 1998).