The flowers of Cyanotis speciosa grow from leaf axils and at stem-tips, clustered in boat-shaped bracts. The generic name, Cyanotis, is derived from the Greek words kuanos meaning blue and ous meaning ear, referring to the petal-shape: rounded, ear-like, blue to mauve blades that spread.

Each flower has three petals and six erect stamens with fluffy, beaded hairs on the upper parts of the filaments below the yellow anthers. The common name, doll's powderpuff, refers to the massed blue and white hairs in the flower.

Flowers close in the afternoon. Flowering happens throughout the year in some regions, peaking in the warm season (Pooley, 1998; Van Wyk and Malan, 1997; Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982).