Cleretum bellidiforme fruit beginnings

The spreading and curving sepals of a has-been Cleretum bellidiforme flower last much better than the soon washed-out petals, here withered over the centre.

The leaf-like sepals are unequal in shape, their surfaces purple-red and green, covered in water-cells. The faint lines visible upon the inner surfaces are single on the sepals at the ends with out-curving tips, double on the lateral ones that curve in at their tips.

This August photo presents an early fruit, the plants normally blooming late in winter to past midspring. Flowers open daily, closing before dark. The ripe fruit capsule opens its five valves in response to rain, closing them when it is dry, dispersing seeds in instalments (Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Manning and Goldblatt, 1996).