Diospyros whyteana green bladder fruits

The Diospyros whyteana fruits are loosely enclosed in oval, bladder-like containers formed by the five calyx lobes. In this picture these “bladders” are still green. The fleshy fruits inside will at this stage also still be green or beginning to turn red. As they ripen, the bladders become brown, persist on the branches long after the ripe black fruits have fallen.

D. whyteana fruits have been used as a coffee substitute (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002; iNaturalist).