Alectra basutica

Alectra basutica, commonly known as moema-osi in Southern Sotho and previously scientifically Melasma basuticum, is a hemiparasitic herb of the Orobanchaceae family. Its roots may be bright orange if it matches its brethren in the genus. The plant grows a few erect, purple and hairy stems. 

The flowers seen here are all closed, the petals folded in, only the orange outer petal surfaces visible. The flowers grow in spikes, sessile meaning they do not have pedicels. Large, pointed, leaf-like sepals envelop the corolla at the base. When the flower opens into a wide cup, the beige-yellow inner petal surfaces are visible, showing about three prominent, parallel veins to each tip. The petals are broadly obovate with rounded, wavy tips. Four stamens cohere in pairs low in the wide flower base.

The species distribution is in KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and Lesotho. This plant was seen during January in the east of Lesotho.

The habitat is montane grassland. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Visser, 1981; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).