Manulea tomentosa young inflorescence

The young Manulea tomentosa inflorescence in picture is crowded and widish, will eventually be cylindrical. It has prospects of many flowers yet to open. Starting off yellow-green and hairy, the hairiness increases once the bud pushes its still closed corolla beyond the calyx. Fast elongation precedes the yellowish bulge until the five petal lobes spread around the small tube mouth, the lateral margins of the petals rolled under, their tips rounded.

Inflorescence elongation, apart from the lengthening in buds, brings about a fair sized cylinder, comprising several cymes. The different inflorescences in picture, one of which dominates, vary much in colour and shape, each revealing its age (Manning, 2007; Mustart, et al, 1997; Bean and Burman, 1985; iNaturalist).