Pelargonium magenteum flowers

Close-up the Pelargonium magenteum flowers reveal their erect, purple styles in the flower centres ending in five branches elegantly curving down. The stamens are shorter, their anthers oblong and purple.

The two larger, upper petals are obliquely shaped, roundly notched at their tips and blotched dark red-purple in the centre. The three smaller, lower ones are similar, not always managing the squarish petal-tip, let alone a central notch. The lower petals also lack the oblique shape and don’t overlap (as much) as the upper ones do.

Some sepal hairiness can be detected in the gaps between petals near the flower centres (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984).