Melianthus major flowers

The maroon Melianthus major flowers grow in many-flowered racemes at stem-tips, well above the leaves. Their size and contrasting colour are not easily missed against the glaucous leaves and surrounding vegetation, even from a distance.

Two to four flowers grow at each node from the central stalk that becomes rigidly erect once the flowers are open to the top. In picture only the younger, upper flowers have pedicels strong enough to hold them up.

The large, dark maroon, calyx dominates in the floral presentation of this plant. It has five unequal parts, hairy on both surfaces. The dark red petals, shorter than the sepals, are spatulate (spoon-shaped), the base a hairy claw.

The four stamens arise from the nectary, their dark to dull red filaments free and the oblong anthers small. The ovary, forerunner to the large fruit, has four locules, a few ovules per locule.

Flowering happens late in winter and early in spring. The flowers are bird-pollinated (Manning, 2007; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984).