Hermannia cuneifolia floral stages

The green calyx of the Hermannia cuneifolia flower is about fully grown when the yellow tip of the corolla appears. The bell-shaped calyx is rough-surfaced to scaly from small protuberances on its fleshy surface. The calyx has five pointed lobes and longitudinal ridges from its base to the tips and sinuses of the lobes.

The open yellow flower has lifted its normally pendulous body for a camera glimpse inside, an unusual posture for the normally nodding or dangling flowers. The anthers and style wait inside for pollinators to enter, rather than meeting them in the open. The calyces in view are longitudinally ridged with small protuberances spaced along the ridges.

The old flower, looking decidedly tired, no longer flaring its petals widely. It has turned orange and may be red before the petals disappear (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2023; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Le Roux, et al, 2005; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; JSTOR).