Glumicalyx goseloides flowers

These orange flowers of Glumicalyx goseloides were captured during November in the Mkhomazi Wilderness Area of the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg. Five brightly orange, rounded corolla lobes at the tip of each long and narrow flower tube catch the eye. The flower tubes are between 2 cm and 3 cm in length, creamy white on their outside surfaces.

Two of the four stamens found in each flower protrude beyond the yellowish flower mouth. The stamens of Glumicalyx flowers grow in two unequal pairs.

The nodding inflorescence elongates and is turned erect by the stem as it enters the fruiting stage.

The stalkless, oblong leaves ascend steeply in picture. They are alternate close to the flowers in picture, usually opposite lower down on Glumicalyx plants.  There is fine white hairiness on the leaf surfaces. The leaf margins are strongly rolled under, causing the upper surfaces to be notably convex. Some bluntly pointed to rounded leaf tips are also slightly turned down (Manning, 2009; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist).