This species has an unusual flowering habit. Flowers are held beneath the semi-folded leaves during cloudy weather (this specimen is “upside down”). When the sun comes out, the flowers are lowered and offset from the leaves, and clearly visible. Other photos can be seen here and here. In most cases, the leaves of this species are anisophyllous — that is, one member of each pair is much reduced or even absent, giving the appearance of an alternate leaf structure. This illustration shows two leaf pairs that are not anisophyllous, although two of the pairs are. This may be a natural variant of the species, or a function of cultivation. The anisophyllous structure can be clearly seen here.

Also known as Pentadenia byrsina.

USBRG 1995-053