Huernia pendula E.A.Bruce

Small succulent forming mats 150-500 mm diam. on ledges on cliffs with some pendent stems. Stems 150-500 mm (-1.5 m) long, 3-8 mm thick, trailing to pendent, if initially erect then soon arching back to ground and rooting, grey-green to green to purplish; tubercles very obscure so that stem ± cylindrical. Inflorescence of 1-5 flowers developing in gradual succession from gradually elongating peduncle (up to 20 mm long) with few deltoid to lanceolate bracts (<2 mm long), arising mainly towards base of stem but also along stem towards and at apex; pedicel 7-10 mm long, ±1.5 mm thick, descending and holding flower nodding or facing downwards, purplish; sepals 3-4 mm long, 1 mm broad at base, attenuate, purplish. Corolla 8-10 mm long, 15-26 mm diam., bowl-shaped; outside cream suffused with purple especially towards apices of lobes, with 5 raised longitudinal veins running down each lobe and onto tube; inside dark maroon covered (except in lower quarter of tube) densely with low cylindrical-to conical-obtuse papillae (reaching max. length in mouth of tube) each with minute apical spikelet; tube 6-8 mm deep, occupying most of flower, widening towards mouth; lobes 4-5 mm long, 5-12 mm broad at base, ascending to spreading-recurved, deltate. Corona ±3 mm tall, 2.5-4.5 mm broad, without basal stipe; outer lobes <1 mm long, at least partially laterally fused, with 10 obtuse lobules or nearly disc-like, spreading on base of tube but not fused to it, blackish maroon; inner lobes ±1.0 mm long, red around base becoming blackish maroon above, adpressed to backs of anthers and exceeding them, dorsiventrally flattened, tapering from broad obtuse dorsal gibbosity at base to obtuse bristly apex.