Clinanthus incarnatus

A bulbous perennial herb, it is native to the Andes of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Strap-shaped leaves grow from an underground bulb, while a leafless stalk carries a cluster of long, tubular flowers enclosed by two bracts when in bud. Flower color varies from brick red and orange red to salmon and pink. The tube widens toward six spreading tepal tips, and the bases of the six stamens join to form a short cup inside the flower. That small staminal cup helps distinguish it from the often-confused Clinanthus variegatus. Photographed in the southern Andes of Peru.