Lampranthus fugitans flowers

The pink to slightly purple flowers of Lampranthus fugitans grow solitary and short-stalked from stem tips. The narrowly oblong petals ascend in several whorls around the flower centre, not all of equal length, their tips acutely pointed.

The young flower could earlier have had its white, antherless staminodes more closely stacked surrounding the yellow-anthered stamens. In this late flowering stage the central cone of stamens and staminodes appear relaxed and spreading in the ageing flower.

The specific name, fugitans is derived from the Latin word, fugere, meaning to flee, suggesting there is something transient, fleeing or elusive about this plant. It may mean that the flowers last poorly, are short-lived. Not knowing whether this is right opens the door to for instance: the plants are hard to find in habitat, or the flowers close daily at dusk, opening with sunlight again the next day (Smith, et al, 1998; iNaturalist).