Brachystelma stellatum

    Brachystelma stellatum
    Author: Ivan Lätti
    Photographer: Judd Kirkel Welwitch

    Brachystelma stellatum has white, star-shaped flowers with yellow-green lobe tips and centre. The corolla is markedly hairy, about 1 cm in diameter. In the corolla centre is an intricate structure comprising the inner and outer coronas, both lobed, topped by a tiny white ring.

    B. stellatum grows in the border area between Mpumalanga and Limpopo in a few sites around the Steenkampsberge, the Ohrigstad Dam Nature Reserve and the Long Tom Pass. Its habitat is montane grassland. Although the species is rare, it is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

    Most brachystelmas grow from fleshy tubers, some of which are edible (http://redlist.sanbi.org).

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