This great plant was found in the sand by our lodgings in the very dry Damaraland region of Namibia. I'm not sure if has been planted or has grown spontaneously. Any help would be very welcome!
I think I have it: Hermannia amabilis. See a lot of photos at Photo Guide to Plants of Southern Africa. Text but no photo from Serra Cafema - April 2009 | Wilderness Safaris Blog: "The beautiful Hermania amabilis, endemic only to this area, is seen everywhere as normally their seed lies dormant until the slightest bit of rainfall arrives." I think a photo of the flower came up on a query for cleome Namibia.
*snap* I had considered Malvaceae briefly as well (it's the imbricate petals), but dismissed it too quickly.
I thought of Malvaceae as well, but only thought of Hibiscus which have that prominent column with the stamens and pistils, so I dismissed that, not that I think going down that path would have helped. I wanted to add a link to a page of 40 or so flowers from Namibia, the page I first found that had the name: Documento senza titolo
Spot on Wendy! A great many thanks to you all for pursuing the goal with such tenacity. For me its a first venture into the Sterculiaceae family. Great work, thanks again!
There is a southwestern native Hermannia, have since it a couple times in southern Arizona: SEINet - Arizona Chapter - Hermannia pauciflora
