Tylecodon ventricosus flowers

Tylecodon ventricosus flowers grow stalked and pointing up in large, loose clusters in thyrse shape.

The flower has a bulging corolla tube consisting of five cohering petals that end in small, recurving and pointed lobes. The specific name, ventricosus, is derived from the Latin word ventriosus meaning pot-bellied, referring to the corolla shape.

The old withering flowers are narrow in their middle parts, the bulges gone as the ovaries turning into fruit are positioned at the base of the tubes. The bulges probably serve as elbow room for pollinators.

The beige-brown or yellow-green corolla is faintly hairy outside, paler on the lobe insides. The corolla tube is 16 mm to 19 mm long. Five short, pointed sepals grip the flower base, their tips resting in the gaps between the much longer petals.

The stamens and styles are included in the tubes, not seen in the photo. 

Flowering happens from late spring to after midsummer (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Grenier, 2019; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist).