Blepharis furcata flowers

The one-lipped flowers of Blepharis furcata grow in dense, few-flowered spikes from leaf axils. The calyx is hairier on the inside than outside. The bracts subtending the corolla are spine-toothed, some branched. This branching may be the basis for the specific name, furcata.

The corolla tube is short, about 18 mm long. The corolla is three- or five-lobed, depending on how one wishes to count: the lateral lobes insignificant, only short slits separating them in the photo. The corolla is more or less pale blue in its upper parts, whitish at the base; the blue colouring deeper along the veins.

There are four equal stamens, arising in the mouth of the corolla tube. There are three glands on the ovary positioned below two hollows at the style base.

The photo was taken in August in Namaqualand (iNaturalist; JSTOR).