Zygophyllum leptopetalum fruit

The fruit of Zygophyllum leptopetalum is a spherical or ovoid capsule up to 1 cm in diameter. It is initially green, faintly five-ribbed, turning purplish brown and later pale beige-brown when ripe. At this stage the ribbing has become conspicuous from the dehydration.

The fruit retains the flower’s protruding style at its tip, as well as the reflexed, dry calyx that once enveloped the petals.

Three fruiting stages are displayed in the photo: young dull purplish ones, a slightly shrunken, pale, ribbed one and some haphazard fruit body detritus where the seeds have already been relinquished.

The young stems in picture are longitudinally ridged but may also be cylindrical or somewhat square in cross-section. They are often reddish in colour, here darker purple than the fruit (Mannheimer and Curtis, (Eds.), 2009; Le Roux, et al, 2005; iNaturalist).