Cytinus capensis

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Rosids > Eurosid II > Order: Malvales > Family: Cytinaceae > Genus: Cytinus

Cytinus capensis, male flowers. [image Nina Hobbhahn ©]

Cytinus capensis, female flowers. [image Nina Hobbhahn ©]

Habitus of Cytinus capensis and its preferred host plant, Ursinia sericea (Asteraceae), in the Groot Winterhoek Reserve.

Cytinus capensis produces small, dark-maroon flowers that smell intensely of vanilla and are pollinated by mice, which visit the flowers to drink nectar.

Text by Nina Hobbhahn