Ochna serrulata style, now maroon

These shiny green Ochna serrulata fruit drupelets developed from one flower. The now red, previously green sepals still persist behind them, the corolla gone. Up to six single-seeded fruits may be produced from a flower.

The ovoid fruits are attached to the flower base, the receptacle, a dome-shaped red bulging structure that was smaller at bloom time. The attachment positions of the fruits are a little inwards from the base of the sepal lobes, the fruits arranged in a circle around the persistent, now maroon style. Fruits start to ripen in late spring, the sepals usually still present by the end of summer.

This photo was taken early in November at Caledon. The plant bears, among other names, a common name of Mickey Mouse bush, due to the shapes seen here. The likeness will be enhanced when the fruits turn black (Coates Palgrave, 2002; iSpot; www.plantzafrica.com).