Zygophyllum microcarpum flower and more

The five whitish to cream and spoon-shaped petals of the Zygophyllum microcarpum flower spread widely from below the superior ovary. Their narrow lower parts, the handles of the spoon-shaped petals, are dull yellow as the inner sepal surfaces and the stamens.

Petal texture is thin, the upper blades slightly in-curving like the shallower of spoon shapes, but sometimes pointed rather than rounded at the tips, unlike proper spoons. Below the petals the shorter and broader sepals, also five of them, curve inwards in this case, sometimes seen straight and spreading.

The stamens are erect, also emerging from below the ovary, while the style arises from the centre of the ovary top like a single candle upon the birthday cake of a one-year-old.

The flower in picture is surrounded by a ring of notable plant parts: a globose bud over which the hairy green sepals are still folded, a green, five-winged fruit upon which the style still stands and a pair of pale orange leaflets saying farewell while all else is growing vigorously (Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; iSpot).