Muraltia spinosa flowers

Seen from another angle, the Muraltia spinosa flower presents its pair of whitish lateral sepals over the back of the purple, hooded petal, central in the flower.

Behind the rounded purple part in view this central petal ends in two large, wing-like appendages. They are partly visible on the flower in the right of the photo, white and pleated. The purple petal tip curves back like a tongue savouring or yearning for something of a surprising flavour.

Small sepals are visible behind the flowers. There are five of them, the lateral pair larger (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000).