Monsonia burkeana flower

The five-petalled flower of Monsonia burkeana may be white, pink or pale lilac. The flowers are radially symmetric, similar to the rest of its genus (and Geranium), but differing from Pelargonium, locally well-known genus of the Geraniaceae family.

Dark translucent lines spread from the petal base to the square (truncate) and irregularly toothed tip of every obovate petal. In the flower centre there are 15 creamy white anthers on thick white filaments around a green style topped by a five-branched purple stigma. Pairs of long silvery hairs can be discerned emanating from the tip of each sepal, like the antennas of a surreal insect. The sepals are also lined on their inside surfaces as are the petals. Flowers grow solitary or in clusters of up to three (iSpot; www.apps.kew.org).