Huernia namaquensis flower dissected

Partial dissection of the Huernia namaquensis flower reveals details of its corona as well as the corolla surface.

The corolla has a fleshy white appearance, enhanced by the numerous tiny, blunt papillae bulging along its surface. Whatever purpose the papillae serve, there must be some comfort of ample footholds for any insect that might walk down into the bowl for inspecting the corona, should it not be a master pilot that flies in directly.

A solitary ring of dark purple to maroon spots around the corona is about all of their kind present in this flower, the tiny ones further on petering out pretty quickly.

The outer corona is the dark rounded ring of five pairs of round-tipped lobes lying upon the floor of the corolla tube. The inner corona is erect upon it with five golden yellow lobes converging in the centre (Williamson, 2010; White and Sloane, 1937).