Muraltia squarrosa flower

The normally pale to deep pink or magenta Muraltia squarrosa flower has two spreading petals and one smaller, keeled and crested one between the others. Some of the seven stamens are visible in the old, pale brown flower in picture, from which the petals have disappeared and some of the sepals point erectly.

Two of the five sepals are petal-like, a common feature in this genus and also in Polygala, another species in the Polygalaceae genus.

The species flowers from spring to autumn. The photo was taken in May.

This plant’s common name of hornless purplegorse refers to the rare absence of horns on its fruit, a feature common to many Muraltia species (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Moriarty, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist).