Zaluzianskya katharinae drumstick buds

Drumsticks, one of the common names for the daytime closed, pink-purple Zaluzianskya katharinae corollas, have their bilobed petal tips folded in a globule over the long corolla tubes, cylindrical and faintly hairy. The petal lobe margins are white as the inside surfaces that will show themselves in low light for the benefit of night-time pollinators.

The soft leaves below the flowers have some shine as well as hairs on their dull green upper surfaces. The leaf midribs are visibly sunken on top. The photo was taken during January in the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden (Van Wyk and Malan, 1997).