Gymnosporia szyszylowiczii flowering

The small flowers of Gymnosporia szyszylowiczii are creamy white and sweetly honey-scented. They grow in branched heads among and above the leaves. Five elliptic petals spread widely around the prominent ovary and diverging stamens.

Flowering may appear in festive abundance as in this photo that was taken on the Rooiberg between Calitzdorp and Van Wyksdorp in October. Flowers may be seen in spring and summer, maybe also through winter.

Some dehisced brown fruit capsules persist among the new season’s flowers in this photo. The spherical fruits may measure 6 mm in diameter (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010).