Hermannia saccifera flowers

The fragrant, yellow flowers of Hermannia saccifera nod in pairs on longish peduncles from upper stem leaf axils. The green to red-brown, cup-shaped calyces have five acutely pointed lobes reaching more than halfway down the corollas.

The five broadly rounded petal tips curve out in a bell-shape but do not twist. Bees are important among the pollinating visitors. Cumin honey made from the flowers of this, the komynbossie, may taste of cumin.

Flowering happens from before midwinter until after midspring.

The specific name, saccifera, is derived from the Latin words saccus meaning a bag or a purse and fero meaning to carry, suggesting that the plant carries a bag. This may refer to the fruits that resemble hanging paper bags (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://pza.sanbi.org).