Gomphocarpus physocarpus old fruit

At the onset of ripening the Gomphocarpus physocarpus fruit loses some of its spherical shape. The roundness may be accentuated by slight bulges of longitudinal segments, appearing a bit like a peeled naartjie. Faint colour changes start to appear, here pinkish on one side. The discoloration may also be partly brown or purple. 

Wear and tear, maybe from wind allowing leaves and branches to whip the fruits, shorten or remove the initially long spiny protrusions from the inflated pod surfaces. When ripe, these fruits burst open, releasing numerous seeds of a dark chocolate colour. Each seed is attached to a tuft of silky hairs that propels it in wind dispersal.

Some of the silky tufts are used by birds to line nests (Pooley, et al, 2025; Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist; https://pza.sanbi.org).