Erica coccinea subsp. coccinea fruits forming in old flowers

The young Erica coccinea subsp. coccinea upper stem is growing in height (plus side-branchlets) above last season’s flower remains. Drably brown and grey, the spent parts hang as if in dejection, having lost their floral status. Still, they harbour the new fruits developing inside.  

The corollas that dominated in the flowers by now retain less shape than the sepals and bracts above them. For it is under these sturdier sepals that the bulges of developing fruits are beginning to appear (Manning and Helme, 2024; iNaturalist; https://pza.sanbi.org).