Cynoglossum hispidum flower

Cynoglossum hispidum annually grows numerous small flowers that droop in a loosely branched, stem-tip inflorescence. The five, green and hairy calyx lobes of each flower curve in to acutely pointed tips. The dark reddish-purple corolla has five, short, spreading and pointed lobes that are soft, fleshy and rough-surfaced. Inside the corolla mouth there are also five white, swollen appendages or crescent-shaped scales. The five stamens on short filaments are included in the corolla tube. Flowering happens in spring.

The fruit consists of four rounded green nutlets covered in small, hooked, hairy spines or spiny hairs, bulbous at the base (Van Wyk and Malan, 1997; iNaturalist; https://pza.sanbi.org).