Phil, I've not been able to get back to the links to the original
photos, so I've re-posted them. they may be seen at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmmavoc...7604121203597/

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmmavoc...7604121203597/

Are these what you were seeing?
Malcolm


Malcolm Manners wrote:
Phil, I wonder if the link has gotten changed? (I can't get there --
it says the post has expired) The photos of Hyobanche sanguinea in
"Namaqualand South African Wild Flower Guide 1" are virtually identical
to mine. I'm quite sure Mel is right.

As for Sarcocaulon -- a stapeliad? I thought it was Geraniaceae?

Malcolm


fairox wrote:

They look like typical seed pods/fruits of a Stapeliad. Its the right
provenance and could be a Sarcocaulon. Definitely isn't Hyobanche or
Scrophulariaceae and I doubt very much if it's parasitic.

Phil


"mel turner" wrote in message
...

"Malcolm Manners" wrote in message
news:SoE4f.7171$l_2.403@trnddc02...


Thanks again, Mel Turner, for identifying my Thonningia sanguinea.


Here's another puzzler -- found in the Springbok area of
Namaqualand, South Africa. I'm thinking perhaps Cytinus sanguineus,
in Cytinaceae, but can find only photos of pistillate flowers, and
these are staminate. Descriptions do say the "staminal column sticks
out of the flower." But I'm guessing here.

Anyone know for sure? thanks.


I don't know for sure, but I get an impression of a "scroph"-like
tubular corolla in your photograph.

Perhaps it's Hyobanche sanguinea? [botanists seem fond of naming
red-flowered S. African parasites "sanguinea" and "sanguineus"]

This looks pretty similar to yours:
http://www.parasiticplants.siu.edu/S...che_sang1.JPEG


partly excavated:
http://www.parasiticplants.siu.edu/S...che_sang2.JPEG


cheers