Abutilon ramosum flower and fruit

The flowers of Abutilon ramosum are yellow to orange, growing solitary or in small groups from leaf axils of upper branches. The flower peduncles are about 4 cm long, articulated at a joint closely below the calyx. The calyx is green and hairy, its lobe tips attenuating long and narrow. The five petals are round-tipped.

The flat-topped green fruit in picture is hairy, encircled by still green, pointed calyx lobes. These laterally curling lobes are slightly removed in picture from the thick disc of circularly arranged mericarps.

There are about eight mericarps per fruit, each producing two or three seeds. The small seeds are dark and shiny (Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; iSpot; www.zimbabweflora.co.zw; www.backyardnature.net).