Conophytum truncatum subsp. truncatum in flower

Although the ground-level succulent remains small, the flowers of an old Conophytum truncatum subsp. truncatum plant with many leaf pairs will catch the eye; a feast of small candles.

The pointed, pinkish red sepals on each green-spotted, leaf-base table resemble a flower vase, managing to hold the recently opened petals together in a cohesive tuft. The very thin, creamy corolla strands soon lose interest in such rigid discipline, falling apart from their upper ends to spread like the tips of an erect ponytail of short hair.

The flat surface of the leaf pair below completes the candlestick resemblance, suggesting dedication as in a shrine. It is easy for a spiritual sense to arise amidst the stillness of Little Karoo scrub-veld when gazing at such a plant under a renosterbos.