Stapelia pillansii dark coronas

The long, narrow, green sepals of Stapelia pillansii flowers are visible on the flower base to the left in the photo. The pale reddish purple outside surface of the corolla has a covering of tiny, velvety hairs that is hardly visible.

In contrast, the pink-purple to whitish hairs upon the corolla lobe margins of the open flower are long and haphazardly angled, absent from the pale buff lobe surfaces themselves.

The dark outer corona in the bowl of the corolla is shiny and nearly black. It has ten lobes, five of which alternate with the inner corona lobes. The other five are variably attached to the lobes of the inner corona above them (White and Sloane, 1937).