Asystasia gangetica subsp. micrantha flower

The flower of Asystasia gangetica subsp. micrantha has a five-lobed, regular calyx with tube shorter than the acutely pointed lobes.

The also five-lobed corolla is two-lipped and white or slightly cream. There are purplish markings, sometimes tessellated (repeating the shape of the marking) on the one-lobed lower lip. The lower lip, sometimes raised in the cup, has a down-turned, triangular tip without markings.

The four-lobed upper lip completes a wide, oblique cup with the lower lip, or a wide tube. This cup or tube is turned sideways. The lobe tips curve outwards at the mouth and spread. The cup is deeper than the free lobes are long. Flower diameter is about 1,5 cm.

The generic name, Asystasia, means inconsistency, referring to the nearly regular corolla shape, unlike flowers of other plants in the Acanthaceae family.

The four stamens grow in two unequal pairs. The superior ovary has two locules. The included style has two branches (Pooley, 1998; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; iNaturalist; http://pza.sanbi.org).