Pelargonium columbinum old flower showing style branches

This old Pelargonium columbinum flower has five dark purple, slightly curved style branches and no longer any visible anthers. Protandrous plant species bear bisexual flowers in which the gender parts mature in sequence, reducing or removing the possibility of self-pollination. The male component, the anthers, matures first in these flowers, while the stigma lobes of the style remain unresponsive. The female style, ending in five branches where the stigma lobes are positioned, becomes ready for receiving pollen after the anthers of the flower are spent, and often disappeared. In picture some white, headless filaments can be discerned near the flower centre.

Flowering of P. columbinum happens in spring to after midsummer (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; https://www.fernkloof.org.za).