Huttonaea grandiflora, not your everyday flower

Huttonaea grandiflora bears one to four large white flowers. Pinkish purple speckles occur on the inner margins of the pair of lateral petals, down to the base. The rounded petals and lips have conspicuous, long fringes along their margins. These thin, fleshy protrusions become about 8 mm in length and even bear short branches.

The petals are concave, their claws joined. The lip becomes about 2 cm wide, its claw short.

H. oreophila, a rare species, bears similar but smaller flowers (Pooley, 1998; www.africanorchids.dk).