Flower:

Flowers are displayed in an open array on slender stalks that diverge near the end of a long smooth stem. Flowers are 1/3 to ½ inch across, star-shaped with 5 pink petals and up to 25 erect pink stamens with bright yellow tips. The ovary is a small green globe at center, the style white and slender split into 3 parts at the tip. Two papery thin oval sepals embrace the base of the flower. Flowers are only open for a few hours in late afternoon in full sunshine, rapidly closing up before the sun goes down.

Leaves and stem:

Leaves are round in cross-section, linear and succulent with a smooth, transluscent sheen, 1 to 3 inches long attached to a compressed stem on a taproot. The flowering stem is naked and very slender, and sometimes branched.

Fruit:

Fruit is a green globe-shaped capsule around 1/6 inch in diameter, containing seeds with a very wrinkly texture, hence the common name Rough-seeded Fameflower.

Notes:

Rough-seeded Fameflower was first discovered in 1864 near Taylors Falls by a surgeon and Mississippi headwaters explorer but not identified to its own specific epithet until 1899 - Talinum rugospermum. Recent taxonomic studies have changed its classification to Premeranthus rugospermus. It is relatively rare throughout it range due to its narrow habitat preferences. While classified as State Endangered since 1984, its seed is available from native seed peddlers and I have found it to germinate easily and persist quite well in a sunny, sandy garden spot, though it will not tolerate much competition so must be carefully cultivated. P. rugospermus resembles its cousin P. parviflorus (Small-flowered Fameflower) which has smaller flowers and only 4 to 8 stamens, but their ranges do not overlap so are not likely to be confused.