Schotia afra var. afra red buds, pink flowers

While the brighter red of the buds serves to announce the Schotia afra var. afra inflorescence to the pollinators, it is the pale pink of the open flower corollas that indicate the nectar and pollen to visiting sunbirds and insects like bees.

Buds in various sizes point up here, bulging on the branched stalks of the inflorescence clusters that grow on spur-branchlet tips among the leaves.

Variations in stem smoothness are associated with stem thickness, showing on the grey branches among the developing flowers (Venter, 2012; Coates Palgrave, 2002; iNaturalist; https://www.worldfloraonline.org).