Lapeirousia pyramidalis subsp. pyramidalis fruit capsules

This Lapeirousia pyramidalis subsp. pyramidalis plant growing near Oudtshoorn is done flowering for the year. Lumpy fruit capsules have replaced the flowers.

While the earlier, long corolla tubes protruded far from the neat pyramid of floral bracts, the heavier fruits sit comfortably inside their boat-shaped supports.

The whole plant structure has lost its green, by the looks of it even its leaves and now blushing from the loss of chlorophyll. The year’s growth is about at an end. The only remaining function of the above-ground plant parts is to release the ripe seeds from the capsules when the time comes.

Next year the corm will send up a new stem and leaves to repeat the performance, sustaining their species (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; iNaturalist).