Combretum mossambicense fruit

The fruit of Combretum mossambicense is the typical winged samara found on most Combretum species, more often five-winged than four-winged in this species. A samara is a winged, indehiscent fruit carrying a single seed. 

The fruits are downy, sometimes densely woolly, the wings pale straw-coloured. Older fruit may turn browner. They become 3 cm long and 2,5 cm wide. Fruits are seen on the plant from mid-spring to midsummer.

C. goetzei growing in the Tete province of Mozambique is very similar to this plant but lacks the hairiness on its fruits (Carr, 1988; Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002; Mannheimer and Curtis, (Eds.), 2009; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).