Strumaria gemmata making an entrance

The tepal surfaces look fresh, glistening from surface cells on this opening bud of Strumaria gemmata. The dark central bands upon the tepals are faintly purple on the outside, greenish inside. At this stage the tepal tips still curve in to form small hoods that had earlier served in covering the style and stamens securely until they were ready to be exposed. The tepal margins are only starting to adopt the undulating shapes they will have in maturity.

The anthers are still held erectly at the filament tips now, their surfaces smooth, not fluffy and turned sideways as when ready for pollinator visits.

The purplish hemisphere visible below the developing corolla is the flower’s inferior ovary. It distinguishes this Amaryllidaceae flower from those of the Liliaceae family that have superior ovaries, i.e. the sepals and petals emerge from below the ovaries (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Wikipedia).