Fockea sinuata follicle

The Fockea sinuata fruit is a follicle, here resembling a feetless lizard. It tapers and attenuates more at the tip than at the base that ends abruptly in the pedicel attachment.

Cylindrical and narrow with a long, lateral seam where it will open when ripe are features that characterise the fruit. Whitish transversal bands are present, irregularly delineated. Or is it like the zebra, either black or white, striped in the other colour?

This fruit produced in Little Karoo veld near Oudtshoorn is enmeshed among neighbouring mesemb branches. Only the follicle is free on top, the rest of the Fockea plant obscured.

This is a good position for prospective wind dispersal. The flattened elliptic seeds to be released have wing attachments (Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; iNaturalist; http://bihrmann.com; http://fresnocss.com; https://worldofsucculents.com).