Asparagus retrofractus bearing fruit

The fruit of Asparagus retrofractus is a small spherical berry of 7 mm in diameter. It starts off green in colour, but becomes orange, red or pink when ripe. This photo was taken in the Karoo near Beaufort West at the end of May.

The fruits follow after the small, creamy white flowers. Flowers grow solitary from the leaf tufts on stalks of about half the leaf length. Blooming happens in spring and summer (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; www.smgrowers.com).