Orbea hardyi (R.A.Dyer) Bruyns

Dwarf succulent forming sprawling mat from 100 mm to 1 m diam. or more, not rhizomatous. Stems 30-150(-300) mm long, 6-12 mm thick, slender, prostrate, branching all along length (branches breaking off extremely easily), green with longitudinal purple-brown stripes and blotches; tubercles 1-3 mm long (nearly obsolete and stems ± square-cylindrical in cross-section when turgid), arranged very roughly into 4 rounded angles without groove between angles, tapering abruptly into short conical tooth without stipular denticles. Inflorescence 1(-2) per stem usually towards base, of 1-2 flowers opening in gradual succession from very short peduncle (1-2 mm long), with few minute lanceolate bracts (<1 mm long); pedicels 5-8 mm long, 1.5-2.0 mm thick, ascending, holding flower ± facing upwards; sepals 2.5-6.0 mm long, 1.5 mm broad at base, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate. Corolla 40-75 mm diam., rotate to very shallowly bicampanulate, with united portion shallowly plate-like to abruptly bowl-shaped (up to 8 mm deep below lobes); outside smooth, cream suffused with purplish; inside with clavate maroon to white papillae up to 1-2 mm long on lower half of lobes and 3-5 mm of united area below lobes, otherwise smooth, purple-red to maroon on lobes becoming coarsely mottled with cream towards their bases, purple-red to brighter red and more finely spotted with cream on annulus, cream in tube; tube ±3 mm long, 15-25 mm broad, very shallowly cupular to nearly flat, with further tubelet around gynostegium 2-3 mm long and 6-8 mm broad formed by circular annulus with ±2 mm thick inward-pointing edge; lobes 13-25 mm long, 11-20 mm broad at base, spreading to recurved, ovate, acuminate, flat to very slightly concave above, with sutures running from bases a further 2-3 mm down tube, margins eciliate. Corona ±7 mm tall, 8-9 mm broad, raised above base of tube on short pentagonal stipe ±1 mm tall; outer lobes 2-3 mm long, ascending then spreading just beyond mouth of tube or adpressed to annulus just outside tube, dorsiventrally flattened, bifid to near base into somewhat divergent obtuse lobules, cream spotted with purple-red, with purple-red margins, papillate-pubescent towards apices; inner lobes 4-5 mm long, adpressed to backs of anthers then connivent-erect and diverging towards slightly clavate apices, cream dotted with purple-red, papillate-pubescent especially towards maroon apices.