Raphionacme velutina flower

The flower of Raphionacme velutina is small with a bright green corolla. A five-pointed star-shape is formed by the corolla lobes that taper to rounded tips, curving downwards. The corona in the centre is busy with detail of stamens and purple corona lobes. The flowers grow in dense clusters in leaf axils. Some hairy, dark green, unopened buds can be observed, pressed against the open flower in picture, due to the shortness of their peduncles.

The maroon stem, covered in scattered, tiny hairs is also clear to see. So are the narrow, grey-green leaves with marked midribs.

The Raphionacme genus encompasses 35 species, all with coronas in the flower centre. Raphionacme fruits all grow in the form of narrow, paired follicles. The seeds are released on the wind from the ripe follicles, to be carried away aided by hairy comas (Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982; Smith, et al, 1997).