Nyctomersa igniferaSunken Lantern Lily

The flowers are not showy, but near windless midday they part their reddish-brown sepals slightly. As the obsidian surface warms, small solitary bees and hoverflies move among the dwarf herbs of the same slope and brush these flowers in passing. In years of fog or hail, the anthers bend toward the stigma; seed set is poor, yet self-pollination keeps the line from failing.

When ripe, the capsules split without throwing their seeds far; most fall at the edge of the parent plant. During snowmelt, however, thin trickles run beneath the obsidian shards and carry the light seeds a few dozen centimeters. Germination is confined to places where fine volcanic ash remains under the dark stones and nightly condensation persists, so the colony spreads only in scattered spots.

The red-rimmed leaf scars visible at collection darken within days in a dried specimen, making the plant hard to separate from ordinary alpine succulents. Its flowers last only two or three weeks in late summer, and at obsidian localities frequented by mineral collectors the lowest plants were probably overlooked. Some old labels noting a scorched chenopod-like herb may have referred to this species.