Zygophyllum lichtensteinianum flowering stages

These globular objects dangling from the Zygophyllum lichtensteinianum branch are buds, not fruits. The fruits look very different; they are five-angled, narrow-winged samaras. One is soon to form on the old flower marked by the long, thin, thread-like style in the bottom left of the photo. The sepals do not persist in this case as they sometimes do.

The emerging yellow petals of an opening bud higher up on the left are visible, breaking the clasp of the grey-green, hairy sepals. The flower stalks are long, allowing the flowers with their thin corollas visibility above the leaves (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; iSpot).