Pelargonium aestivale E.M.Marais

A deciduous geophyte with a regularly shaped subterranean tuber, 120-200 mm tall when in flower. Tuber: a turnip-shaped or elongated, sometimes moniliform root with a short flattened stem, covered with flaking dark-brown periderms, 30-80 mm long and 12-30 mm in diameter. Leaves radical, hysteranthous, rosulate, simple or ternate, green, petiolate; lamina ovate, apex acute, margin entire to serrate, revolute, 25-95 x 14-48 mm, adaxially and abaxially hirsute or sparsely hirsute with stiff hairs interspersed with short glandular hairs and long soft non-glandular hairs; petiole 25-90 mm long and 1-3 mm in diameter, prostrate, densely hirsute with short appressed hairs and sparsely interspersed with short glandular hairs; stipules subulate, adnate to petioles with apices free, 5 mm long and ±1 mm wide, ciliate. Inflorescence: scape 10-70 mm long, 1-3 mm in diameter, branched, bearing 2-4 pseudo-umbellets with 3-8(-11) flowers each; peduncles 35-85 mm long, 1-2.5 mm in diameter, densely hirsute with distally appressed curly hairs interspersed with long glandular hairs; bracts lanceolate, 4-8 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, abaxially hirsute with distally appressed hairs interspersed with glandular hairs; flower buds, flowers and fruits erect. Pedicel ca. 0.5 mm long. Hypanthium 33-66 mm long, pale green, indumentum as on peduncle, hypanthium/sepal ratio 4-10. Sepals 5, lanceolate, apices acute, 6.5-11 mm long, 1.5-3 mm wide, posterior one erect, others reflexed, green to pale reddish brown with margins white, indumentum abaxially as on peduncle. Petals 5, cream-coloured to yellow, claws forming a sheath; posterior two with wine-red feather-like markings, unguiculate-spathulate, bases cuneate, apices emarginate, 14-25 x 3.5-6 mm, length/width ratio smaller than 5.5; anterior three spathulate, bases attenuate, apices rounded, 12-20 x 3-5 mm. Stamens 10, basally connate, staminal column 1.5-2 mm long, white; perfect stamens 5, concealed within the floral sheath, posterior one 2-3.5 mm long, lateral two 3-4.5 mm long, anterior two 4-7 mm long, white; staminodes 2.5-3 mm long; anthers pink, 1.5-2 mm long, pollen orange. Gynoecium: ovary superior, oblong-conical, 5-lobed, 2.5-4 mm long, densely sericeous; style filiform, 0.5-2 mm long, pale green; stigma with 5 recurved branches, 1-2 mm long, adaxially wine-red. Fruit: a schizocarp consisting of 5 mericarps, bases of mericarps ±7 mm long, with glandular hairs, tails ±36 mm long. This species has an apparent long flowering season, from September-December, which is due to the irregular start of the raining season. Sometimes leaves are still present when flowering time starts, but often flowers appear after the leaves have died.