Cycnium racemosum

Cycnium racemosum, commonly known as the large pink mushroom flower, the large pink ink plant or the large mountain ink flower, is a hemiparasitic herb growing erect stems to about 75 cm.

Hemiparasites are plants dependent on other plants for part of their nutritional needs, such as water and minerals, while they can acquire substances like carbon on their own. These plants are sometimes also called semiparasites. In contrast, holoparasites are more dependent than hemiparasites, receiving both the inorganic and organic components of their nutrition from host plants.

The likely neighbours of C. racemosum in habitat are grasses. So, the seedling roots simply grow attachments to nearby grassy plants for tapping resources.

C. racemosum has narrow, toothed, hairy leaves.

The species distribution is in the eastern parts of South Africa, from the Eastern Cape, the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, to Mpumalanga, Limpopo and further in southern Africa.

The plant inhabits summer rainfall grassland. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century.

The roots are much used in traditional Zulu medicine.

The Cycnium or ink plant genus comprises several species. They are related to the Harveya inkflower plants. Flowers of both genera turn black when drying out, yielding a substance used in olden times to make writing ink (Manning, 2009; iNaturalist; Wikipedia; http://redlist.sanbi.org).