Although this species covers a wide distribution area (from the Free State and the Eastern Cape to Worcester), it is never very common. It usually occurs on sandy or loamy flats in the shade of shrubs.
The plants form clumps to over a meter in diameter, with erect, bluntly 4-angled stems 5 to 15 cm tall and 1-1.5 cm thick; the leaves are 0.5-1 cm long and short-lived.
They bloom profusely in February-May; the distinctive flowers emit a strong musky odour and are 4.5-10 cm in diameter, usually deep brown to purple-black and mottled with pale yellow (sometimes the yellow spots are so dense that the colour pattern is almost reversed); the lobes are fringed with vibratile white or purple hairs.
