Quaqua arenicola (N.E.Br.) Plowes

Succulent forming dense and often robust clump 150-500 mm diam. Stems 20-150 mm long, 15-25 mm thick, decumbent to erect, uniformly green to grey-purple; tubercles 5-10 mm long, conical, spreading, joined in lower half into 4 angles along stem, each tipped with sharp hardened yellow tooth usually somewhat flattened above and with 2 stipular denticles on either side. Inflorescences of 3-20 ± simultaneously opening flowers mostly in lower (to upper) half of stem; pedicels 2-5 mm long, 1.0-1.5 mm thick, ascending to spreading; sepals 4 mm long, 1 mm broad at base, whitish flecked with red. Corolla 15-30 mm diam., campanulate to rotate; outside dark purple-red changing to pale green speckled with purple-red on tube; inside velvety to dull dark purple-red to purple-black on lobes and into mouth of tube, below this mottled and banded with same dark colour on cream, with low obtuse papillae each tipped by a short ascending bristle at least in mouth of tube; tube 2-4 mm long, 3-5 mm broad at mouth, cupular, with corolla thickened at mouth; lobes 7.5-15.0 mm long, 3.5-4.0 mm broad at base, ascending to spreading, narrowly lanceolate, acute, margins folded back so that upper surface convex. Corona 1.2-2.0 mm tall, 2-3 mm broad, yellow to reddish purple, raised on stipe up to 0.5 mm long; outer lobes ±1 mm long, erect, shallowly bifid into erect obtuse deltoid lobules, laterally fused in lower half to bases of inner lobes to form deep pouch; inner lobes 0.5-1.0 mm long, adpressed to backs of anthers and equalling them, ± rectangular, dorsiventrally flattened, with obtuse swollen dorsal projection in series with outer lobes.