Saltera sarcocolla flower

The perianth or corolla of a Saltera sarcocolla flower has four equal lobes. It may be white in the centre. There are several flower size and colour variations, as well as differences in the number of flowers in each stem-tip cluster. This variability is largely associated with the region in which a plant grows, although the overall species distribution is not large.

The corolla tube is cylindrical, up to 3 cm long. The anthers are purplish pink and cohering around the style on a young flower such as the one in picture. They become darker with age and the style grows longer. The gummy yellow bracts with fringed margins holding the flower base at the stem tip are broader than the leaves below.

A second stem-tip in the photo has bracts developing without a corolla in sight yet (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; www.plantzafrica.com).