Erica diaphana old flowers

These Erica diaphana flowers photographed near the coast in the Eastern Cape are dark pink with a hint of purple. The slight bulges usually seen near the tips of the perianth tubes are absent, possibly due to the flowers ageing. Maybe the anthers inside are losing body. No exserted stigmas are visible. Still older tubes, also present, have pale corolla lobes curving out from shrivelled brown perianth tips. There are also fruits developing that have already lost their corollas.

The branchlets with flowers at their tips curve down, allowing the flowers to nod. Behind the bracteoles that touch the calyces there are usually stem sections or pedicels that are leafless on this species. The young stem parts covered in leaves are cream, the older part losing its leaves is whitish grey with dark markings (Manning and Helme, 2024; Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; iNaturalist).