Monsonia speciosa L.

Rosulate, decumbent or suberect, suffrutescent, up to about 30 cm high. Roots often tuberous. Stems aerial and often also subterraneous; the subterraneous rhizome, when present, almost woody, erect, branched or not, up to approximately 10 mm long and 6 mm in diam., bracteate. The main aerial stem stunted, at the apex of the rhizome or root, without or with a few lateral branches only; the lateral branches decumbent or suberect, up to about 16 cm long and 4 mm in diam., herbaceous, with a single or a double indumentum or sometimes glabrous; the single indumentum puberulent or pubescent with curved or appressed hairs and these scattered to dense, or velutinous, pilose or hirsute with the hairs scattered to dense; the double indumentum with the first puberulent or pubescent, with appressed or curved hairs and the second pilose, velutinous or hirsute with the hairs scattered or dense; the hairs whitish to straw-coloured; often with few to numerous stalked and sessile glands, the nodes often purplish or reddish. Leaves; Lower alternate and rosulate, upper subopposite or opposite, those of a pair unequal, the smaller leaves with lateral branches and/or inflorescences in the axil; petiole with the same indumentum and glands as the stem, 1-4(7) x as long as the blade, 40-225 mm long, not geniculate at the apex, widened at the base; stipules paired, subulate Or acicular, 4-9 mm long, often purplish or reddish, ciliate, glabrous or with a few scattered short or long hairs, sometimes also with stalked and/or sessile glands; blade simple or compound, 0.5-1.2 x as long as wide, 15-60 x 14-60 mm, above glabrous, obscurely puberulent to pubescent all over or only between the main veins and appressedly so with the main veins more densely pubescent with erect hairs, often also granulose, beneath as above but never glabrous and furthermore with the veins often velutinous, these hairs often gland-based, often also with stalked and/or sessile glands; main veins impressed above, prominent beneath. The simple blade shallowly to deeply palmately lobed with 5 or 7 lobes; lobes entire or shallowly to deeply pinnately lobed, serrate, dentate or crenate at the margin, obtuse or rarely acute at the apex, cordate or truncate at the base. The compound blade palmate with 5 or 7 leaflets; leaflets ovate, obscurely to deeply pinnately or bipinnately lobed, pinnatisect or bipinnatisect; the pinnae linear-elliptic to very narrowly elliptic, entire at the margin. Inflorescences axillary, rarely terminal, 1-flowered, 80-440 mm long. Peduncles and pedicels stiff, erect, with the same indumentum as the stem which is, however, often less dense, often with more stalked glands than the stems; peduncles 1-3(5) x as long as the pedicels, 35-305 mm long; pedicels 15-125 mm long, geniculate under the fruit; involucral bracts 6, subulate or narrowly ovate, sometimes mucronate, often purplish or reddish, ciliate, glabrous or with a few scattered short or long hairs, sometimes also with stalked glands. Sepals green, purplish Or reddish, narrowly obovate, connate at the base for 1-2 mm, each sepal with a pouch of 1-2 mm deep and 2 mm in diam. at the connate base, limb 2-5 x as long as wide, 15-30 x 3-10 mm; outside glabrous, with a few scattered long erect hairs, velutinous, or with a double indumentum the first of which is obscure to densely pubescent with appressed or curved hairs, while the second is composed of few to many long erect hairs, these long hairs often gland-based, often with few to numerous stalked glands; inside glabrous, mostly pubescent towards the base and in the pouch, sometimes also with stalked glands, with 3 or 5 parallel main veins, not ciliate at the margin; mucro glabrous or obscurely hairy, terete and acicular, reddish or purplish, 0.5-3 mm long, with a small tuft of whitish hairs at the base of the mucro. Petals obovate, obtriangular or angular-obovate, rarely broadly obovate or broadly obtriangular, 1-2 x as long as wide, 25-65 x 20-40 mm, 1.5-2.5 x as long as the sepals, (1)2-3 x as long as the stamens, white, white flushed with pink, pink, red, mauve, or purple, with the veins darker than the rest of the petal, glabrous or with scattered stalked glands, base ciliate, inside pubescent and outside obscurely puberulent, with 5 or 7 main veins, 5-toothed at the apex; the teeth sharp to blunt, with the central tooth mostly larger than the others. Stamens monadelphous, arranged in a cylindrical column around the pistil; groups connate at the base for 1-2.5 mm; filaments of each group basally connate for 5-11 mm; filaments in the central stamens 11-21 mm and in the lateral 9-19 mm long, purplish to reddish, inside glabrous, outside pubescent at the base or all over and also channelled; an ovate often rimmed gland-cavity of approximately 1 mm diam. is situated on the outer side of the base of each group, directly below the channel and above or halfway into the sepal-pouch; anthers oblong, 4-6 x 1-1.5 mm, purplish-black, laterotrorse. Pistil 12-20 mm long; ovary obconical, 4-6 x 2-3.5 mm, hirto-pubescent to hirsute, apex rimmed and with numerous stalked glands; beak longitudinally grooved, 3-1 0 mm long, with numerous stalked glands at the base, obscurely or densely puberulent to shortly hirsute towards the apex; stigmas purplish-black, linear to clavate, 4-6 x 1 mm, outside clavellate, serrate or dentate at the margin, acute or obtuse at the apex. Fruit 70-100 mm long, mericarps 10-16 x 3-4 mm and beak 60-80 mm long; mericarps dark brown, narrowly obconical, hirsute or setaceous with copper coloured hairs, with reddish spots at some of the hair bases, conspicuously rimmed and ridged at the apex; the rim forming a cup-shaped cavity with a central ridge; the rim and ridge perpendicular to the tail; the tail obscure and short hirsute outside, hispid inside where the tail detaches from the beak-axis; these hairs stiff, whitish, straw-or copper-coloured and long at the tail's base, forming a crest. Seed obconical, 6-7 x 2-3 mm, glabrous.

Can be grown by cuttings or divisions.