Gossypium herbaceum subsp. africanum bud and fruit

Coming and going, a bud and a young fruit share lodgings in the same leaf axil of this Gossypium herbaceum subsp. africanum plant. Both are clasped at the back by skullcap-like calyces, while the umbrella-like epicalyces hover overhead as if the absence of suntan lotion is resolved by their presence. The epicalyx has serrated margins in the upper parts of its three bracts.

The two tips in picture differ markedly: the bud tip is broadly rounded, suffused with faint red that turns out on close inspection to be dots; the fruit has a narrowly protruding, acutely pointed tip.

Black gland dots are present in places as is common for this plant, although not uniformly (Pooley, 1998; Onderstall, 1996; Letty, 1962; iSpot; Mannheimer and Curtis, (Eds.), 2009; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000).