Serruria cygnea flowerheads old

The mainly old Serruria cygnea flowerheads grow close together here, many of them held up by the large trailing branch. Each head has its own cream-coloured peduncle, however.

Some old heads in picture still have a last intact perianth bud or so, stretching the head’s bloomtime a bit. The young head of only buds positioned next to the old ones promises more about flowers for next week. 

 The old unkempt flowerheads show in-curving, maroon styles and haphazardly discarded perianth segments, of no further significance after yielding their pollen onto the pollen presenters. The flowerheads resemble mini-Medusa heads with enough snakes for hair to scare many. No ambitious spider could match the ancient goddess for threatening locks, so the spiderhead common name of Serruria continues to keep the peace in the fynbos, Greece being so far away anyway.

The fruits of this plant are released within two months after flowering (Rebelo, 1995; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; JSTOR; Wikipedia).