Sparaxis grandiflora subsp. fimbriata

Sparaxis grandiflora subsp. fimbriata bears its flowers in spirally arranged spikes from unbranched stems. Grandiflora means large flowers. They measure up to 4,5 cm across. The plant is sometimes called the Cape buttercup. Its flowers are white, cream or yellow with rounded tepal tips. The tepals sometimes have dark markings at the base, inside the wide corolla cup.

There are fringed papery bracts with reddish streaking on the stems next to the flowers. These fimbriate (fringed) bracts probably gave rise to the subspecies name.

Flowering comes at the end of winter and early spring. This photo was taken in August. The fruits are capsules that release large, shiny, spherical seeds (iSpot; www.arkive.org; www.plantzafrica.com).