Pelargonium capitatum green fruit

The green Pelargonium capitatum fruit cluster still shows the dense umbel-like structure of its flowering habit after the flowers have run their course. Mainly red-tipped sepals and hairy green styles are remaining.

The ovaries, comprising five compartments each where five mericarps are maturing steadily, are still well covered by the closing sepals. When that phase is over the calyx gives way; the splitting up of the five mericarps a spectacular sight happening often, observed rarely.

The stigmas are still present at the style tips, but shrivelling now, no longer needed. Faint signs of seams in the style surface may be discerned, the places where the style’s outer skin will split to furnish each seed with a long, thin travelling device full of long hairs and a useful screwing action to help the seed into the earth (Wikipedia; www.geraniumsonline.com).