Huernia zebrina subsp. insigniflora flower

The flowers of Huernia zebrina subsp. insigniflora grow solitary from the base of young stems on pedicels 1,2 cm long. The hairless sepals taper to acute tips.

The five-pointed, pale rose or ivory corolla lobes are triangular with long, narrow, attenuating tips that may bend sideways, all in the same direction as if in rotation. The lobe surfaces are slightly roughly textured, but hairless, sometimes faintly lined or mottled. The corolla has small secondary lobe tips halfway between the main or primary ones, in the so-called sinuses of the the corolla margin. The corolla is just over 4 cm in diameter.

The primary corolla lobes spread star-like around the bright red, deep purple or liver-coloured and shiny annulus around the flower tube, 4 mm in diameter. The annulus is the thick, raised, doughnut-shaped ring surrounding the flower centre. It is 7 mm wide and a little over 2 cm in diameter.

Inside this ring the outer corona is cream-coloured to pale yellow, occasionally dark purple. Its five lobes are fused into a disc, their margins again lobed, forming ten small pale pink scallops. The inner corona has tiny yellow lobes flecked with purple or maroon on their margins. These erect lobes have acutely pointed tips curving inwards, taller than the anthers.

Blooming happens in late spring to early autumn (White and Sloane, 1937; Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982; iSpot; http:llifle.com).