Adenium multiflorum flowers

Abundance of these fragrant flowers contrast strikingly with the dry surroundings of winter bushveld. When the Adenium multiflorum is devoid of leaves in winter, it flowers. When both are gone, the pale, succulent stems have an appeal of their own.

The flowers grow in stem-tip inflorescences. Each flower has a whitish tube of nearly 4 cm and five spreading lobes, often with deep crimson or red margins, finely wavy or crisped in picture. Some flowers are white or red only. There are five spidery brown lines from the flower tubes or cups onto the petal lobe bases in picture. To make matters worse, there are two shorter lines flanking the long ones on each petal. The numbers reassure that these lines have nothing to do with spiders. Maybe they contribute as route guides to pollinators. 

Flower diameter is about 6 cm (Germishuizen and Clarke, 2003; Codd, 1951; iNaturalist; https://pza.sanbi.org).