Cephalophyllum pillansii, the day's work done

Relief has arrived in the late afternoon for this Cephalophyllum pillansii plant on its bare Namaqualand slope after another long day of blazing sun. The flowers are expected to close soon, as Cephalophyllum flowers tend to do in late afternoon like platteland shops.

Empowered by succulence, there is vigour without complaints about a hard life on the challenging terrain from this resident. Uneven leaf length, pale yellow petals around purple-brown flower centres and flowering close to the ground, it is as Namaqualand as Namaqualand gets during spring (and longer in their case); and a perennial too nogal.

After the flowering one can look for fruit capsules on the ground around the plant. Current developing fruit, as well as older dry capsules in picture are confirming the pattern, lying right there (Frandsen, 2017; Smith, et al, 1998; iNaturalist).