Erepsia inclaudens

The flowers of Erepsia inclaudens are small and deep mauve, growing stalkless in small clusters. The petals are arranged in two whorls. They broaden towards their tips. The central cluster of staminodes, sterile stamens covers the actual stamens, doing justice to the genus name of Erepsia as erepsis means “I hide myself” in Greek. The stamens bend down inwardly towards the centre, as the ovary top on which they grow is concave.

Flowering happens from midspring to early summer. The plant shown here was obtained from the nursery at the Harold Porter National Botanical Garden in Betty’s Bay. The densely branching habit of the spreading shrublet is starting to show (Manning, 2007; Smith, et al, 1998; iNaturalist).