Purple Funeral Bloom - African Wild Flowers

This very small plant has a humongous tuber underground. The flowers are about the size of your little fingernail, with the tuber easily weighing between 7 and 10 kilograms. Local San people dig up the tuber, hollow it out and use the flesh of the tuber to wash the bodies of deceased family members. It is believed that this ritual distracts the grieving family and allows them to return to their normal lives quicker than normal.

comments (5)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

I saw your request, but unfortunately "Neorautanenia" is too generic for a species identification, as it is a genus, not just one species. Posted 10 years ago
1. Living Wild
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks Ferdy. Yeah, it seems I am suddenly getting a bit stuck with species identification (miss-identified the Mopane worm as well). Sorry for that ... it is the only reference I could find in my books. Maybe its like that other blue flower ... a mystery. Posted 10 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    No need to apologize, specific categories can be very hard to identify. Its just that the species system works on exact species only.
    
    If you simply don't know, know it partially or am not sure, you can simply share what you do know in the photo's description. Or if you haven't found anything useful it is good to mention that as well, it tells moderators that you tried, what you tried, and it saves time.
    
    Again, no worries, you're doing just fine, and it takes some time to experience how the system works in edge cases like this. Posted 10 years ago
3. WildFlower
  
  Lion
  
  Well, the taxonomy of this genus is a mess. Different sources accept different names as being valid or synonyms.
  http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/plants/fabaceae/neorautanenia.htm
  http://www.theplantlist.org/browse/A/Leguminosae/Neorautanenia/
  http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=763
  http://www.southernafricanplants.net/plantdata_main.php?free_crit=Neorautanenia&photoonly_crit=&gesendet_1=true Posted 10 years ago
4. 1. Living Wild
    
    Lion
    
    Thanks for that WildFlower, and sorry again for causing complications. For what its worth, this specific plant was a creeper type, lying flat on the ground (unlike the N. mitis which is shown as a standing plant). Posted 10 years ago

No species identified

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By Living Wild

Uploaded Feb 2, 2015. Captured Nov 20, 2012 13:48 in Otjozondjupa, Namibia.

Explore Namibia 750 405 0

Canon EOS REBEL T2i
f/5.6
1/1579s
ISO250
55mm