Aspalathus excelsa blooming

    Aspalathus excelsa blooming
    Author: Ivan Lätti
    Photographer: Ivan Lätti

    These bright yellow flowers at Aspalathus excelsa stem tips were seen in October, the middle of their flowering season, which is spring. The flowers growing in clusters of five to fifteen are carried on short hairy stalks, the calyx bell-shaped.

    The recurving banner at the top of each flower has a fold down its centre and tapers to a tip curved back, mostly hidden behind. Fine, parallel vein lines curve outwards across the banner surface to its margins. The narrow wing petals with rounded tips initially adhere to the keel. They are oblong and later curve sideways. The crescent, boat-shaped keel curves up between the wing petals.

    The ten stamens are unequal in length, the style curving inwards (Bean and Johns, 2005; Leistner, (Ed), 2000; iSpot).

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