Gomphocarpus fruticosus being industrious

This stem tip of Gomphocarpus fruticosus spells diligence: Photographed in January, about the middle of its flowering season, there are buds, flowers and dry, papery follicles (fruit), all present among the narrow leaves. When the going is good, the work can’t stop.

One follicle has already split open, the other still zipped. The black inside the open follicle may be the many seeds that will fly out on the wind, their dispersal aided by silky-haired appendages. Photos of these appendages taken by Johan Wentzel are given in the Plant Record for G. fruticosus elsewhere on this Site (Manning, 2009; Le Roux, et al, 2005; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; www.plantzafrica.com).