Wahlenbergia capensis flower

The pale to dull blue flowers of Wahlenbergia capensis are borne solitary or in groups of up to four at the tips of long, erect stalks. The corolla is a shallow bowl formed by the five short and broad petals tapering to slightly pointed tips. The flower becomes about 1 cm long.

The flower centre is dark blue, narrowly ringed with yellow and dark spots on the petal margins low down in the cup above the ring in picture. The filaments are also dark blue. The hairy ovary is inferior, i.e. positioned below the petals. The five broad stigma branches spread conspicuously above the corolla on an erect style. The style has pollen-collecting hairs also below the stigma.

Narrow, hairy, green sepal tips protrude in the gaps between the petals in the photo. Flowering happens in spring and early summer (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; www.plantzafrica.com).