Melasphaerula graminea flowers

The flowers of Melasphaerula graminea grow in a loose, much-branched spike. Each flower is subtended by two pointed or blunt, soft-textured bracts, the inner one slightly smaller.

The creamy white flower is two-lipped, often marked in dark purple streaks upon the lower tepals. The broad-based tepals form a rounded cup but attenuate abruptly to long, narrow, curving tips.

The stamens cohere in an arch below the largest, upper tepal. The filament bases are attached in the mouth of the tube, the anthers exserted. The style divides into three branches. The nectar-producing flowers exude a strong scent, sour and musky.

Flowering happens from before midwinter to after midspring. The photo was taken in early August (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; Le Roux, et al, 2005; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; iNaturalist).