Quaqua arida (Masson) Plowes ex Bruyns

Small succulent often forming dense clump 60-300 mm diam. Stems 50-200 mm long, 10-25 mm thick, decumbent to erect, green to purplish green or green irregularly mottled with purple; tubercles 3-7 mm long, conical, spreading, slightly flattened above, laterally flattened towards base and joined into 4(rarely 5) angles along stem, each tipped with sharp hardened yellow tooth 3-5 mm long. Inflorescences of 1-3 usually successively opening flowers towards tips of stems; pedicel (1.5-)3.0-15.0 mm long, ±0.5 mm thick, ascending to spreading, holding flower facing upwards or outwards; sepals 1.0-1.5 mm long, ±0.5 mm broad at base, acute, adpressed to corolla. Corolla 5-6 mm diam. with lobes folded back (7-10 mm diam. with lobes spread out), ± turban-shaped; outside pale green; inside on upper third of lobes pale purple-brown breaking up into short pale purple-brown transverse bars on pale greenish yellow background and becoming plain pale greenish yellow to cream around gynostegium, covered with stiff cylindrical ± erect purple to purple-red hairs reaching max. length of 1 mm and max. density in lower half of lobes; tube ± lacking; lobes 2.5-4.0 mm long, 1.5-2.0 mm broad at base, spreading with upper half recurved to touch pedicel behind corolla, ovate-lanceolate, acute, slightly thickened at tip. Corona ±1.5 mm tall, 2.0-2.5 mm broad, bright yellow occasionally speckled with brown, narrowing towards base and not raised on stipe; outer lobes 1.0-1.5 mm long, spreading near base then erect, linear and bifid only towards apex into erect to diverging lobules, channelled down inner face, fused to inner lobes at base only; inner lobes ±0.5 mm long, adpressed to backs of but not exceeding anthers, linear to narrowly deltoid, obtuse to emarginate, dorsiventrally flattened, with broad short truncate to emarginate ± erect dorsal projection near base slightly above outer lobes.