Oscularia deltoides flowers

The flowers of Oscularia deltoides are produced in dense cymes near stem tips, growing on stalks from leaf axils. A multitude of stamens and staminodes (stamens that did not develop anthers), cohere in the flower centre in a cone-shaped structure. This cone has a flat top that is yellow from its many anthers.

Around the central cone a ring of pale pink petals, round-tipped and narrowly obovate to nearly oblong, ascend outwards. They spread widely for most of the daylight hours, closing at night. Each flower has a fleshy calyx of five sepals below, as well as two bracts.

The photo taken during October shows a plant of the Nuwekloof Pass area near Tulbagh. Flowering happens from before midspring to early summer (Manning, 2007; Smith, et al, 1998; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist).