Vanheerdea roodiae diligent production

Isolated in desolate semi-desert, or being small does not stop Vanheerdea roodiae plants from producing flowers, fruits and seeds to the limit. The yellow-tipped, sepal-covered buds emerge from leaf pair centres, sometimes three in sequence from the same pair in a season.

In contrast, yesterday's efforts, the numerous white discs of the old fruit capsules like micro water towers in suburbia are not all standing in the middle of leaf pairs any longer. The leaf bodies that launched them have since disappeared. The leaves last through winter flowering, then shrivel as summer drought returns. The fruit capsules remain standing regardless, each comprising from eight to twelve locules.

The tiny brown seeds ripen as the capsules harden protectively around them, awaiting rain for dispersal. Being hygrochastic, the capsules release seeds by opening the valves on top of their locules, only as long as they are wet. Thanks to these rain-triggered events, the dispersal is staggered by also closing when the capsules become dry.

The intermittent washing out of seeds onto the gravelly ground increases the probability of at least some seeds finding conducive conditions from the multiplicity of opportunities, and germinate (Frandsen, 2017; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Smith, et al, 1998; iNaturalist; https://llifle.com).